Marcoola flood map & planning overlays
Marcoola has the busiest sky on the Sunshine Coast: 106 flights a day.
Most lots here are flood-mapped. The free check shows how much of one lot the overlay covers.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Marcoola
(Sunshine Coast Regional, QLD) - 13.66 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
13.66 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Marcoola's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Amber hatching is the published aircraft noise (ANEF) contour. 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 Marcoola properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 2,435 analysed Marcoola properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 2,435 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Marcoola.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Marcoola
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Inside an aircraft noise contour
38% of the suburb's land sits inside a published ANEF or airport-environs contour. Contours vary street by street, so whether a particular lot is inside one needs a property-level check.
Highest contour present
Under AS 2021, land at ANEF 30 and above is generally unacceptable for new houses and most noise-sensitive uses. The contour is a forecast, not a measurement at any one house.
Contours held
- Sunshine Coast Airport ANEF
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
typical observed square 4 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 500 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.
Marcoola at a glance
Schools in and near Marcoola
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
0 schools providing primary years and 0 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: 0.57 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 3.40 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 Marcoola is zoned
Selling in Marcoola? 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 13.66 km², Marcoola is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 96% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 38% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is No. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 557 m² across 2,418 parcels.
Recent development applications in Marcoola
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public Sunshine Coast Council register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
Latest included submission: 3 August 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 8 November 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Marcoola
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Marcoola 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 979, and decile 6 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Marcoola's 3,355 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Marcoola - Mudjimba, the wider ABS statistical area containing Marcoola. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Marcoola itself.
6,849 in 2001 to 12,672 in 2025, up 85%.
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.
Marcoola 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) | Inside a held contour | 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 |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | Sunshine Coast 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 Marcoola 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 Marcoola. 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 over parts of Marcoola. 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 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 Marcoola lot.
Marcoola planning - frequently asked
Is Marcoola flood-prone?
About 96% of Marcoola falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 30%. Across the suburb, 89% of the 2,435 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 167 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Marcoola; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Marcoola bushfire-prone?
Around 38% of Marcoola is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Sunshine Coast Regional average of 38%.
Is Marcoola affected by aircraft noise?
About 38% of Marcoola sits inside a published aircraft noise contour, and the highest contour present is ANEF 35 - under AS 2021, land above ANEF 25 is generally considered unacceptable for new houses, and 20-25 conditionally acceptable with noise attenuation. ANEF contours are forecasts published per airport and used to control noise-sensitive development; they are not a measurement at any one house, and a property can sit under a flight path and outside every contour.
Is Marcoola under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Marcoola, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 109 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 Marcoola?
The dominant planning zone in Marcoola is No, though the suburb also includes Environmental Management and Conservation and Rural.
Does Marcoola have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Marcoola.
Is Marcoola hilly or flat?
Marcoola is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 1%. Ground level runs from roughly 3 m to 5 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Marcoola?
Across 2,418 surveyed parcels in Marcoola, the median lot size is about 557 m². There are also 144 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Marcoola have a train station?
There is no train station inside Marcoola itself. The suburb is served by 21 bus stops.
What is the population of Marcoola?
At the 2021 Census Marcoola had 3,355 usual residents, with a median age of 45 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Marcoola - Mudjimba statistical area, which contains Marcoola, went from 6,849 people in 2001 to 12,672 in 2025, up 85%.
Is Marcoola an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Marcoola scores 979 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 Marcoola?
Median household income in Marcoola was $1,401 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,677 for the typical suburb in Sunshine Coast Regional. Median rent was $406 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,733 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Paradise | 2.9 km | 97% | 11% |
| Mount Coolum | 3.3 km | 51% | 58% |
| Mudjimba | 3.4 km | 94% | 50% |
| Twin Waters | 4.2 km | 94% | 19% |
| Yaroomba | 4.6 km | 29% | 24% |
| Point Arkwright | 5.4 km | <1% | 5% |
| Maroochy River | 6.0 km | 67% | 27% |
| Bli Bli | 6.1 km | 60% | 19% |
| Coolum Beach | 6.7 km | 79% | 55% |
| Maroochydore | 7.0 km | 67% | 4% |