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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Picnic Bay is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 367, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 1117 km from the Brisbane CBD, Picnic Bay is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $45,240 per year.
Picnic Bay's income profile suggests a value-oriented market with competitive purchase prices. Seaside positioning attracts both owner-occupiers and holiday rental demand.
Official Australia Post postcode for Picnic Bay. 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 Picnic Bay 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.
Picnic Bay is a smaller community of 367 — about 7% of the Queensland suburb median (5,474) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Picnic Bay's median household income of $45,240/year is 50% 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. Rent of $250/week (74% coverage of the $1,469/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $386/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. Picnic Bay is 1117 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 53% 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 Picnic Bay stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Picnic Bay sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Picnic Bay | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 367 | 5,474 | -93% |
| Median household income | $45,240/yr | $90,298/yr | -50% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $250 | $385 | -35% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,469 | $1,733 | -15% |
| Distance to CBD | 1117 km | 62 km | +1702% |
| Separate houses | 53% | 77% | -24pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Picnic Bay — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 367 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Queensland market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $250/week covers 74% of a $1,469/month mortgage, leaving a $386/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
Only 53% 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 Picnic Bay property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Picnic Bay are modest for 2026 — incomes 50% below the QLD median of $90,298 and a population of 367 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~74% of the typical mortgage ($1,083/month rent vs $1,469/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 33/100 places Picnic Bay 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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Picnic Bay scores 33/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a weak rating. That score is driven by a population of 367, median household income of $45,240/year and median weekly rent of $250. 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 Picnic Bay are a median household income of $45,240/year, a dwelling mix that is 53% 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.
Picnic Bay has a usual resident population of approximately 367, 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.
Picnic Bay sits 1117 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 $250 in Picnic Bay, equating to approximately $13,000/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 Picnic Bay is $1,469, or approximately $17,628/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 $250 works out to $1,083/month, covering 74% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,469/month. That leaves a $386/month shortfall (around $4,632/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 (367 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,469 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($45,240 vs $90,298 state median), 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.