Suburb overview
West Gladstone is a regional centre in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 4,844, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 439 km from the Brisbane CBD, West Gladstone is a regional area in Queensland. The median household income is $68,848 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
4680
Postcode for West Gladstone, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
4,844
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$470/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
439 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,300/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
64% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in West Gladstone
- Regional location about 439 km from Brisbane.
- Country-town feel with lower density and slower pace of life.
Who West Gladstone suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Mortgage costs are lower than the Queensland median, improving cash-flow margins.
- Lower purchase prices and more land for the money.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (439 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment insight
4,844 residents places West Gladstone squarely in the middle of the Queensland suburb size distribution (state median 5,474), with market depth comparable to most QLD localities. West Gladstone's median household income of $68,848/year is 24% 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. Median rent of $470/week (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)) equates to roughly $2,037/month — about 157% of the $1,300/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census. On those figures rental income covers most or all of the recorded repayment, but repayments on new loans have risen with interest rates since 2021, so re-run the coverage at today's rates before treating this as a cash-flow suburb. West Gladstone is 439 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment tip
This suburb suits yield-focused investors who are comfortable with lower liquidity. Employment concentration and local population trends matter more here than in metro markets. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 17% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
West Gladstone vs Queensland median
How West Gladstone stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean West Gladstone sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | West Gladstone | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,844 | 5,474 | -12% |
| Median household income | $68,848/yr | $90,298/yr | -24% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $230 | $385 | -40% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,300 | $1,733 | -25% |
| Distance to CBD | 439 km | 62 km | +608% |
| Separate houses | 64% | 77% | -13pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for West Gladstone — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 4,844 residents — 88% of the QLD suburb median (5,474).
- Purchasing power: median household income $68,848/year (-24% vs Queensland suburb median of $90,298).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $230/week rent (≈ $997/month) covered ~77% of the $1,300/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 439 km straight-line from Brisbane (state suburb median 62 km).
- Dwelling mix: 64% separate houses — mixed market (vs 77% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$130/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,300/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 17% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: household incomes 24% below the QLD median ($68,848 vs $90,298) means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Queensland market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage at the 2021 Census: rent of $230/week covered 77% of a $1,300/month mortgage, a $303/month gap bridged with equity, depreciation and tax benefits. Re-check with current rents and rates before committing.
Only 64% 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.
Risk factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,300/month median mortgage in West Gladstone means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $130/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in West Gladstone are 24% below the Queensland median ($68,848 vs $90,298), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Liquidity risk: with 4,844 residents, West Gladstone has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Commute distance: at 439 km from the nearest CBD, West Gladstone depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in West Gladstone regardless of local market conditions.
Run the numbers on a West Gladstone property
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Start your journey near West Gladstone →2026 outlook
Capital-growth expectations for West Gladstone are modest for 2026 — incomes 24% below the QLD median of $90,298 and a population of 4,844 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~77% of the typical mortgage ($997/month rent vs $1,300/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for West Gladstone is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Queensland median.
Frequently asked questions
Is West Gladstone a good suburb for investment?
Whether West Gladstone suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 4,844, a median household income of $68,848/year and median weekly rent of $230. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in West Gladstone?
The main demand drivers in West Gladstone are a median household income of $68,848/year, a dwelling mix that is 64% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of West Gladstone?
West Gladstone has a usual resident population of approximately 4,844, 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.
How far is West Gladstone from the Brisbane CBD?
West Gladstone sits 439 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.
What is the median rent in West Gladstone?
The median weekly rent in West Gladstone is $470 (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)), equating to approximately $24,440/year in gross rental income. Confirm against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in West Gladstone?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in West Gladstone is $1,300, or approximately $15,600/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.
Is West Gladstone cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $230 works out to $997/month, covering 77% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,300/month. That leaves a $303/month shortfall (around $3,636/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.
What are the main risks of investing in West Gladstone?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (4,844 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,300 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($68,848 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.
How we built this West Gladstone profile
The population figure on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census. The postcode comes from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. The dwelling mix is from the ABS 2021 Census. The median household income is the ABS 2021 Census median weekly household income, annualised. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage figures are 2021 figures and are labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. The current median weekly rent in Key indicators is a genuine recent figure from Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (Mar 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.