Carrara flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Carrara
(Gold Coast City, QLD) - 13.87 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 12 September 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
13.87 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Carrara's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Carrara properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 6,308 Carrara properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 6,308 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Carrara.
Carrara at a glance
Schools in and near Carrara
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb. These figures do not rate schools and do not assign a particular address to a catchment.
Inside the suburb boundary
2 schools providing primary years and 2 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: inside the suburb
Secondary: inside the suburb
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time; use the official catchment finder for a specific address.
How Carrara is zoned
Selling in Carrara? The lot-level zone is the zoning Part 3 of Queensland's Form 2 seller disclosure statement asks for - see our Form 2 planning data guide.
Across its 13.87 km², Carrara is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 70% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 33% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Limited development (constrained land). The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 736 m² across 6,031 parcels.
Recent development applications in Carrara
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public City of Gold Coast register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
Latest included submission: 15 September 2026.
Previous 12 months: 37 (5% higher in the latest period).
Counts depend on applications that the council publishes and that can be assigned to a suburb. Categories can overlap when one application covers several types. Totals below five and their latest dates are suppressed. Register last synchronised 18 September 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Carrara
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Carrara 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 1002, and decile 8 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Carrara's 13,138 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Carrara, the wider ABS statistical area containing Carrara. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Carrara itself.
9,852 in 2001 to 14,340 in 2025, up 46%.
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.
Carrara 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 | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Zoning | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data, Defence |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | City of Gold Coast |
Profile last materially updated 12 September 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 Carrara 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.
The Terrain Report shows the fall of the block - contours, cross sections and a 3D model of the lot (+$9 with the planning report).
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Carrara lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Carrara planning - frequently asked
Is Carrara flood-prone?
About 70% of Carrara falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 38%. Across the suburb, 54% of the 6,308 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 2961 rated high risk or historically affected.
Is Carrara bushfire-prone?
Around 33% of Carrara is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Gold Coast City average of 50%.
What is the zoning in Carrara?
The dominant planning zone in Carrara is Limited development (constrained land), though the suburb also includes Low density residential and Medium density residential.
Does Carrara have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Carrara.
Is Carrara hilly or flat?
Carrara is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 8%, and 10% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 3 m to 49 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Carrara?
Across 6,031 surveyed parcels in Carrara, the median lot size is about 736 m². There are also 738 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Carrara have a train station?
There is no train station inside Carrara itself. The suburb is served by 30 bus stops.
What is the population of Carrara?
At the 2021 Census Carrara had 13,138 usual residents, with a median age of 42 and an average household size of 2.4 people. The wider Carrara statistical area, which contains Carrara, went from 9,852 people in 2001 to 14,340 in 2025, up 46%.
Is Carrara an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Carrara scores 1002 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 8 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Carrara?
Median household income in Carrara was $1,562 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,830 for the typical suburb in Gold Coast City. Median rent was $450 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,900 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benowa | 2.2 km | 57% | 6% |
| Merrimac | 3.4 km | 78% | 26% |
| Highland Park | 3.6 km | 2% | 52% |
| Bundall | 3.7 km | 92% | 4% |
| Ashmore | 3.7 km | 11% | 12% |
| Clear Island Waters | 3.7 km | 96% | 8% |
| Worongary | 3.9 km | 8% | 88% |
| Broadbeach Waters | 4.7 km | 100% | 10% |
| Molendinar | 5.3 km | 5% | 40% |
| Gilston | 5.6 km | 19% | 99% |