Palm Beach flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Palm Beach (Gold Coast City, QLD) - 6.33 km², mapped from live council and state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Everything below is suburb-wide. Overlays change block to block - see which ones actually touch your lot. The map is free.
Constraint readout
6.33 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Palm Beach's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. It shows where constraints fall; the interactive map shows them on your exact address.
Palm Beach flood risk at the property level
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched, from our lot-by-lot analysis of 10,767 Palm Beach properties.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 10,767 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Palm Beach.
Palm Beach at a glance
How Palm Beach is zoned
Selling in Palm Beach? 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 6.33 km², Palm Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 88% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 12% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Low density residential. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 392 m² across 7,157 parcels. These figures are suburb-wide - the overlays that actually apply to a given lot can differ block to block, which is what a property-level check tells you.
Who lives in Palm Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Palm Beach 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 1034, and decile 9 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Palm Beach's 16,349 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Palm Beach, the wider ABS statistical area containing Palm Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Palm Beach itself.
13,024 in 2001 to 18,678 in 2025, up 43%.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Census of Population and Housing 2021 (General Community Profile) and SEIFA 2021, both published at the Suburbs and Localities level; Regional Population (estimated resident population) at Statistical Area Level 2. Used under CC BY 4.0. Census counts of small populations are randomly adjusted by the ABS to protect confidentiality, so figures for small suburbs are indicative.
Check a specific Palm Beach 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 →Palm Beach planning - frequently asked
Where can I see a flood map of Palm Beach?
The schematic on this page is a Palm Beach flood map: the mapped flood overlays drawn over the suburb's terrain and street grid, covering about 88% of the suburb. Flood lines vary block to block, so for a specific property use the free interactive map - search any Palm Beach address and it shows the flood, zoning and bushfire mapping on the exact lot boundary.
Is Palm Beach flood-prone?
About 88% of Palm Beach falls within a mapped flood overlay, against a Gold Coast City average of 49%. Looking lot by lot, 46% of the 10,767 properties we analysed in Palm Beach carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 2460 rated high risk or historically affected. Flood overlays vary block to block, so whether a particular lot is affected needs a property-level check.
Is Palm Beach bushfire-prone?
Yes - around 12% of Palm Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Gold Coast City average of 48%. A bushfire-prone designation can trigger additional building requirements, so check the specific address.
What is the zoning in Palm Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Palm Beach is Low density residential, though the suburb also includes Medium density residential and Open space. Zoning sets what you can build and do on a site, and can differ lot by lot.
Does Palm Beach have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Palm Beach. Even so, it is worth confirming for an individual property before any works.
Is Palm Beach hilly or flat?
Palm Beach is largely flat: the median lot slope is about 2%. Ground level runs from roughly 2 m to 7 m AHD across the suburb. Slope drives site costs - cut and fill, retaining walls and driveway grades - so it is worth knowing before you commit to a sloping block.
What is the typical lot size in Palm Beach?
Across 7,157 surveyed parcels in Palm Beach, the median lot size is about 392 m². There are also 304 registered easements mapped in the suburb - an easement can restrict where you can build, so always check the title and overlays for the specific lot.
Does Palm Beach have a train station?
There is no train station inside Palm Beach itself. The suburb is served by 44 bus stops.
What is the population of Palm Beach?
At the 2021 Census Palm Beach had 16,349 usual residents, with a median age of 39 and an average household size of 2.3 people. The wider Palm Beach statistical area, which contains Palm Beach, went from 13,024 people in 2001 to 18,678 in 2025, up 43%. ABS publishes no annual population series for individual suburbs, so that trend describes the surrounding area rather than Palm Beach alone.
Is Palm Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Palm Beach scores 1034 and sits in decile 8 of 10 nationally and decile 9 within Queensland - decile 1 being the most disadvantaged tenth of Australian suburbs and decile 10 the least. The national average score is 1000. SEIFA summarises income, education, occupation and housing across the whole suburb, so it describes the area, not any particular household in it.
What is the median household income in Palm Beach?
Median household income in Palm Beach was $1,721 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,830 for the typical suburb in Gold Coast City. Median rent was $445 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,093 a month. These are 2021 Census figures and have not been indexed to today.
Do I need a planning report for a Palm Beach property?
A Palm Beach planning report pulls every overlay - zoning, flood, bushfire, heritage and environmental - that touches a single lot, on live council and state data. The interactive map preview is free; a full PDF report is $9.