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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Paluma is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 87, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 1172 km from the Brisbane CBD, Paluma is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $70,200 per year.
Paluma's income profile suggests a value-oriented market with competitive purchase prices. Coastal lifestyle appeal adds a premium that supports long-term demand.
Official Australia Post postcode for Paluma. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Estimated 1 school within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Paluma on My School →Estimated 1 park and green spaces near this suburb.
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Paluma is a smaller community of 87 — about 2% of the Queensland suburb median (5,474) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Paluma's median household income of $70,200/year is 22% below the Queensland suburb median ($90,298) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. Weekly rent of $160 covers just 46% of the median $1,517/month mortgage repayment, leaving a $824/month gap — investors should only pursue this suburb with a clear capital-growth thesis and sufficient external income to fund the shortfall. Paluma is 1172 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 38% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 77% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
How Paluma stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Paluma sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Paluma | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 87 | 5,474 | -98% |
| Median household income | $70,200/yr | $90,298/yr | -22% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $160 | $385 | -58% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,517 | $1,733 | -12% |
| Distance to CBD | 1172 km | 62 km | +1790% |
| Separate houses | 38% | 77% | -39pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Paluma — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 87 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Queensland market over full cycles.
Weak cash flow: $160/week rent covers only 46% of the $1,517/month median mortgage — a $824/month gap that must be funded from other income. This suburb is a capital-growth play, not a yield play.
Only 38% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 77% QLD median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Run the numbers on a Paluma property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Paluma are modest for 2026 — incomes 22% below the QLD median of $90,298 and a population of 87 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~46% of the typical mortgage ($693/month rent vs $1,517/month repayment), meaning investors will rely on capital growth rather than yield. The EquitySight investment score of 38/100 places Paluma in the lower tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
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Paluma scores 38/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a weak rating. That score is driven by a population of 87, median household income of $70,200/year and median weekly rent of $160. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.
The main demand drivers in Paluma are a median household income of $70,200/year, a dwelling mix that is 38% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 1 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.
Paluma has a usual resident population of approximately 87, compared with a Queensland suburb median of 5,474 — placing it in the lower half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
Paluma sits 1172 km straight-line from the Brisbane CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $160 in Paluma, equating to approximately $8,320/year in gross rental income (state median $385/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Paluma is $1,517, or approximately $18,204/year (vs $1,733/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
A median weekly rent of $160 works out to $693/month, covering 46% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,517/month. That leaves a $824/month shortfall (around $9,888/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (87 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,517 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($70,200 vs $90,298 state median), a unit-heavy dwelling mix (38% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, the broader Queensland market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.