Palm Beach flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Palm Beach
(Northern Beaches, NSW) - 2.7 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 3 October 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
2.7 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Palm Beach's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Palm Beach
Two different things, kept apart on purpose. The ANEF contour is the planning instrument - a forecast published per airport that planning schemes use to control noise-sensitive development. Observed overflight is what a sampled aircraft-tracking feed actually recorded over the suburb - where aircraft flew, how low and how often.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 2 Oct 2026
typical observed square 1 a day
Night movements: not established - night is sampled as often as day, but too few night flights have been seen here to conclude either way.
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Palm Beach at a glance
How Palm Beach is zoned
Buying in Palm Beach? The zoning, flood and bushfire lines on the section 10.7 certificate attached to the contract are mapped controls - see our s10.7 certificate guide.
Across its 2.7 km², Palm Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 6% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 48% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 84 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Environmental Living. The median lot measures about 792 m² across 1,464 parcels.
Who lives in Palm Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Palm Beach suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 1142, and decile 10 within New South Wales. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Palm Beach's 1,652 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Avalon - Palm Beach, the wider ABS statistical area containing Palm Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Palm Beach itself.
13,047 in 2001 to 13,161 in 2025, up 1%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Palm Beach data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies |
| Zoning | Mapped | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
Profile last materially updated 3 October 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Palm Beach address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Palm Beach. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Palm Beach lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Palm Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Palm Beach flood-prone?
About 6% of Palm Beach falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 12%.
Is Palm Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 48% of Palm Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Northern Beaches average of 47%.
Is Palm Beach under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Palm Beach, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 2 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 2,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 2 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Palm Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Palm Beach is Environmental Living, though the suburb also includes Environmental Conservation and Public Recreation.
Does Palm Beach have heritage-listed places?
Palm Beach has 84 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Palm Beach?
Across 1,464 surveyed parcels in Palm Beach, the median lot size is about 792 m². There are also 7 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Palm Beach have a train station?
There is no train station inside Palm Beach itself. The suburb is served by 57 bus stops and 4 ferry terminals.
What is the population of Palm Beach?
At the 2021 Census Palm Beach had 1,652 usual residents, with a median age of 58 and an average household size of 2.3 people. The wider Avalon - Palm Beach statistical area, which contains Palm Beach, went from 13,047 people in 2001 to 13,161 in 2025, up 1%.
Is Palm Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Palm Beach scores 1142 and sits in decile 10 of 10 nationally and decile 10 within New South Wales (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Palm Beach?
Median household income in Palm Beach was $2,807 a week at the 2021 Census, against $2,778 for the typical suburb in Northern Beaches. Median rent was $895 a week and the median mortgage repayment $4,000 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whale Beach | 1.7 km | 3% | 21% |
| Coasters Retreat | 2.2 km | <1% | 100% |
| Currawong Beach | 2.3 km | 0% | 100% |
| Great Mackerel Beach | 2.3 km | 25% | 99% |
| Avalon Beach | 3.4 km | 12% | 23% |
| Pittwater | 3.4 km | <1% | 12% |
| Clareville | 4.3 km | 4% | 5% |
| Morning Bay | 4.7 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Bilgola Beach | 5.1 km | 9% | 65% |
| Bilgola Plateau | 5.2 km | 2% | 21% |