Fortitude Valley flood map & planning overlays
123 heritage-listed places, 2nd-most in Brisbane City and 4th in Queensland. Old bones, busy streets.
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A planning-constraint profile of Fortitude Valley
(Brisbane City, QLD) - 1.37 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
1.37 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Fortitude Valley'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
How common is mapped flood risk across Fortitude Valley properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 8,383 analysed Fortitude Valley properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 8,383 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Fortitude Valley.
Has Fortitude Valley flooded? Flood history and overland flow
Yes. Recorded flood mapping reaches into Fortitude Valley: 618 of the 8,383 properties we analysed (7.4%) sit at least partly inside a mapped historical flood extent (Historic Flood 1974: 617, January 2011: 525, February 2022: 508). The free address check says whether a given lot is inside one.
Suburb-wide totals across 8,383 analysed properties; they do not identify or describe any individual property.
Recorded historical flood mapping
618 analysed properties intersect at least one mapped historical event extent.
- Historic Flood 1974: 617
- January 2011: 525
- February 2022: 508
Mapped overland flow
2,864 analysed properties carry a mapped overland-flow category.
- Low: 780
- Medium: 988
- High: 140
- Affected: 956
Source: Brisbane City Council flood mapping, aggregated by LayeredGeo. Categories are only shown where at least five analysed properties share them. An address-level check is still required to determine whether a particular lot is mapped.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Fortitude Valley
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
typical observed square 2 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 1,000 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.
How this is measured
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.
Fortitude Valley at a glance
Schools in and near Fortitude Valley
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb; it does not rate schools or assign any individual address to a catchment.
Inside the suburb boundary
2 schools providing primary years and 7 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 Fortitude Valley is zoned
Selling in Fortitude Valley? 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 1.37 km², Fortitude Valley is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 32% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. There are 123 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Mixed use (Inner city). The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 980 m² across 7,602 parcels.
Recent development applications in Fortitude Valley
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public Brisbane City Council register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
Latest included submission: 6 November 2026.
Previous 12 months: 50 (72% higher in the latest period).
Common application types
- Material change of use: 25
- Building work: 23
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 8 November 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Fortitude Valley
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Fortitude Valley 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 1063, and decile 10 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Fortitude Valley's 9,708 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Fortitude Valley, the wider ABS statistical area containing Fortitude Valley. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Fortitude Valley itself.
2,672 in 2001 to 11,889 in 2025, up 345%.
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.
Fortitude Valley property market snapshot
Queensland Government publishes this as a SA2 market series for Fortitude Valley, the wider statistical area containing Fortitude Valley. It is not a valuation and is not specific to this suburb or any individual property.
Unit sales
Median sale price from 575 sales over 12 months to March 2026.
Source: Queensland Government Statistician's Office (QGSO). View the source profile. The same SA2 figure can appear on several suburb pages within that statistical area.
Fortitude Valley 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 |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
| Market statistics | Available at SA2 level | Queensland Government Statistician's Office (QGSO) |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | Brisbane City Council |
Profile last materially updated 7 November 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 Fortitude Valley 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.
See what's in the $9 report →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Fortitude Valley. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Published flood models are held here: a Flood Model Report is available for about 8,300 Fortitude Valley addresses (+$9 with the planning report).
The Terrain Report shows the fall of the block - contours, cross sections and a 3D model of the lot to spin round in your browser (+$9 with the planning report).
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Fortitude Valley lot.
Fortitude Valley planning - frequently asked
Is Fortitude Valley flood-prone?
About 32% of Fortitude Valley falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 31%. Across the suburb, 33% of the 8,383 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 504 rated high risk or historically affected. Modelled flood depth, velocity and flood level are held for about 8,300 Fortitude Valley addresses, from published flood studies; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether a model reaches a given address.
Has Fortitude Valley flooded?
Yes. Recorded flood mapping reaches into Fortitude Valley: 618 of the 8,383 properties we analysed (7.4%) sit at least partly inside a mapped historical flood extent (Historic Flood 1974: 617, January 2011: 525, February 2022: 508). The free address check says whether a given lot is inside one.
Is Fortitude Valley bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Fortitude Valley and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone (the Brisbane City average is 27%).
Is Fortitude Valley under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Fortitude Valley, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 2,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 10 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 Fortitude Valley?
The dominant planning zone in Fortitude Valley is Mixed use (Inner city), though the suburb also includes Principal centre (City centre) and Priority Development Area - Part 10 of Brisbane City Plan 2014.
Does Fortitude Valley have heritage-listed places?
Fortitude Valley has 123 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Fortitude Valley hilly or flat?
Fortitude Valley is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 6%, and 5% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 0 m to 32 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Fortitude Valley?
Across 7,602 surveyed parcels in Fortitude Valley, the median lot size is about 980 m². There are also 545 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Fortitude Valley have a train station?
Yes - Fortitude Valley has 1 train station: Fortitude Valley station. It is also served by 45 bus stops and 1 ferry terminal.
What is the population of Fortitude Valley?
At the 2021 Census Fortitude Valley had 9,708 usual residents, with a median age of 31 and an average household size of 1.6 people. The wider Fortitude Valley statistical area, which contains Fortitude Valley, went from 2,672 people in 2001 to 11,889 in 2025, up 345%.
Is Fortitude Valley an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Fortitude Valley scores 1063 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 Fortitude Valley?
Median household income in Fortitude Valley was $1,658 a week at the 2021 Census, against $2,122 for the typical suburb in Brisbane City. Median rent was $400 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,718 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teneriffe | 1.1 km | 50% | 0% |
| Spring Hill | 1.4 km | 6% | 0% |
| Newstead | 1.4 km | 94% | 0% |
| New Farm | 1.5 km | 51% | 0% |
| Herston | 1.5 km | 30% | 0% |
| Bowen Hills | 1.5 km | 49% | 0% |
| Brisbane City | 1.8 km | 52% | 0% |
| Kangaroo Point | 1.8 km | 46% | 0% |
| Petrie Terrace | 2.3 km | 6% | 0% |
| Hawthorne | 2.4 km | 43% | 0% |