Property Report / Areas / Gold Coast City / Clear Island Waters

Clear Island Waters flood map & planning overlays

A planning-constraint profile of Clear Island Waters (Gold Coast City, QLD) - 4.35 km², mapped from live council and state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 19 September 2026.

Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Clear Island Waters's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.

Nearby suburbs, nearest first

How common is mapped flood risk across Clear Island Waters properties?

Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 1,936 Clear Island Waters properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.

Clear Island Waters at a glance

Parcels 1,915 Median lot 800 m² Mapped easements 133 Bus stops 3 Schools in suburb 1

Schools in and near Clear Island Waters

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

1

1 school providing primary years and 0 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.

Nearest school availability

Primary: inside the suburb

Secondary: 0.84 km from the suburb boundary

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 Clear Island Waters is zoned

Unzoned 37%
Low density residential 27%
Sport and recreation 11%
Limited development (constrained land) 8%
Open space 7%
Medium density residential 6%

Selling in Clear Island Waters? 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 4.35 km², Clear Island Waters is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 96% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 8% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Unzoned. The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 800 m² across 1,915 parcels.

Recent development applications in Clear Island Waters

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

9

Latest included submission: 6 July 2026.

Previous 12 months: 6 (50% 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 20 September 2026. Check the official council register.

Who lives in Clear Island Waters

Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Clear Island Waters suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.

Population
4,395
usual residents, 2021
Median age
50
years
Median household income
$1,617
per week, Gold Coast City suburb typical $1,830
Median rent
$540
per week, Gold Coast City suburb typical $450
Median mortgage
$2,167
per month
Household size
2.5
people, average

Socio-economic standing

ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.

Advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD) Decile 9
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 1067, and decile 10 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 8
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Clear Island Waters's 4,395 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 3.4%
5-14 10.5%
15-19 5.7%
20-24 4.8%
25-34 8.0%
35-44 10.1%
45-54 14.1%
55-64 13.1%
65-74 14.4%
75-84 10.5%
85+ 5.4%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

Estimated resident population of Clear Island Waters, the wider ABS statistical area containing Clear Island Waters. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Clear Island Waters itself.

3,781 in 2001 to 4,570 in 2025, up 21%.

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.

Clear Island Waters data sources and coverage

“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.

DatasetCoveragePublisher
Flood mappingMappedthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data
Bushfire-prone mappingMappedthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data
ZoningMappedthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data
Heritage and environmentMapped where publishedthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data
Aircraft noise contours (ANEF)Not heldthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data, Defence
DemographicsAvailableAustralian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA)
School availabilityAvailableQueensland Government
Development applicationsAvailable as suburb totalsCity of Gold Coast

Profile last materially updated 19 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 Clear Island Waters 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.

Published flood models are held over parts of Clear Island Waters. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.

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 Clear Island Waters lot.

See what's in the $9 report →

Clear Island Waters planning - frequently asked

Is Clear Island Waters flood-prone?

About 96% of Clear Island Waters falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 38%. Across the suburb, 100% of the 1,936 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 1283 rated high risk or historically affected.

Is Clear Island Waters bushfire-prone?

Around 8% of Clear Island Waters is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Gold Coast City average of 50%.

What is the zoning in Clear Island Waters?

The dominant planning zone in Clear Island Waters is Unzoned, though the suburb also includes Low density residential and Sport and recreation.

Does Clear Island Waters have heritage-listed places?

No heritage-listed places are on record within Clear Island Waters.

Is Clear Island Waters hilly or flat?

Clear Island Waters is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 7%. Ground level runs from roughly 2 m to 5 m AHD across the suburb.

What is the typical lot size in Clear Island Waters?

Across 1,915 surveyed parcels in Clear Island Waters, the median lot size is about 800 m². There are also 133 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

Does Clear Island Waters have a train station?

There is no train station inside Clear Island Waters itself. The suburb is served by 3 bus stops.

What is the population of Clear Island Waters?

At the 2021 Census Clear Island Waters had 4,395 usual residents, with a median age of 50 and an average household size of 2.5 people. The wider Clear Island Waters statistical area, which contains Clear Island Waters, went from 3,781 people in 2001 to 4,570 in 2025, up 21%.

Is Clear Island Waters an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Clear Island Waters scores 1067 and sits in decile 9 of 10 nationally and decile 10 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Clear Island Waters?

Median household income in Clear Island Waters was $1,617 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,830 for the typical suburb in Gold Coast City. Median rent was $540 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,167 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Merrimac 2.5 km 78% 26%
Mermaid Waters 2.6 km 97% 5%
Broadbeach Waters 2.6 km 100% 10%
Robina 3.1 km 42% 6%
Bundall 3.5 km 92% 4%
Broadbeach 3.7 km 32% 0%
Carrara 3.7 km 70% 33%
Benowa 3.8 km 57% 6%
Mermaid Beach 3.9 km 17% 0%
Miami 4.6 km 24% 21%

See all Gold Coast City suburb profiles →