Property Report / Areas / Noosa Shire / Cootharaba

Cootharaba flood map & planning overlays

A planning-constraint profile of Cootharaba (Noosa Shire, QLD) - 65.7 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 Cootharaba's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.

Nearby suburbs, nearest first

Cootharaba at a glance

Parcels 429 Median lot 40,308 m² Mapped easements 62 Schools in suburb 0 Landslide overlay 22%

Schools in and near Cootharaba

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

0

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

Nearest school availability

Primary: 3.56 km from the suburb boundary

Secondary: 3.45 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 Cootharaba is zoned

Rural 94%
Environmental Management and Conservation 6%
Unzoned 0%
Community Facilities 0%

Selling in Cootharaba? 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 65.7 km², Cootharaba is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 18% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 77% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Rural. The median lot measures about 40,308 m² across 429 parcels.

Who lives in Cootharaba

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

Population
866
usual residents, 2021
Median age
48
years
Median household income
$1,465
per week, Noosa Shire suburb typical $1,602
Median rent
$365
per week, Noosa Shire suburb typical $440
Median mortgage
$1,863
per month
Household size
2.7
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 5
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 975, and decile 6 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 4
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Cootharaba's 866 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 2.6%
5-14 13.4%
15-19 5.6%
20-24 2.9%
25-34 8.4%
35-44 12.1%
45-54 14.9%
55-64 19.2%
65-74 15.4%
75-84 5.2%
85+ 0.5%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

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

16,124 in 2001 to 26,251 in 2025, up 63%.

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.

Cootharaba 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

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 Cootharaba 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 Cootharaba. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$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 Cootharaba lot.

See what's in the $9 report →

Cootharaba planning - frequently asked

Is Cootharaba flood-prone?

About 18% of Cootharaba falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 28%.

Is Cootharaba bushfire-prone?

Around 77% of Cootharaba is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Noosa Shire average of 76%.

What is the zoning in Cootharaba?

The dominant planning zone in Cootharaba is Rural, though the suburb also includes Environmental Management and Conservation and Unzoned.

Does Cootharaba have heritage-listed places?

No heritage-listed places are on record within Cootharaba.

What is the typical lot size in Cootharaba?

Across 429 surveyed parcels in Cootharaba, the median lot size is about 40,308 m². There are also 62 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

What is the population of Cootharaba?

At the 2021 Census Cootharaba had 866 usual residents, with a median age of 48 and an average household size of 2.7 people. The wider Noosa Hinterland statistical area, which contains Cootharaba, went from 16,124 people in 2001 to 26,251 in 2025, up 63%.

Is Cootharaba an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Cootharaba scores 975 and sits in decile 5 of 10 nationally and decile 6 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Cootharaba?

Median household income in Cootharaba was $1,465 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,602 for the typical suburb in Noosa Shire. Median rent was $365 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,863 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Boreen Point 4.6 km 76% 98%
Ringtail Creek 5.8 km 32% 91%
Kin Kin 7.3 km 11% 81%
Pinbarren 8.4 km 33% 54%
Noosa North Shore 8.9 km 58% 72%
Como 9.6 km 36% 90%
Cooroibah 10.4 km 46% 77%
Coondoo
Gympie Regional
11.0 km 33% 80%
Pomona 11.2 km 41% 86%
Lake Macdonald 12.0 km 44% 69%

See all Noosa Shire suburb profiles →