Palmwoods flood map & planning overlays
Palmwoods holds 11 heritage places, 10th on the Sunshine Coast.
Things you won't regret: spending $9 to know the lot before you commit.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Palmwoods
(Sunshine Coast Regional, QLD) - 23.89 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
23.89 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Palmwoods'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 Palmwoods properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 3,104 analysed Palmwoods properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 3,104 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Palmwoods.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Palmwoods
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 0 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 4,000 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.
Palmwoods at a glance
Schools in and near Palmwoods
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
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: 0.73 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 Palmwoods is zoned
Selling in Palmwoods? 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 23.89 km², Palmwoods is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 20% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 43% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 11 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Rural. The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 801 m² across 2,901 parcels.
Recent development applications in Palmwoods
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: 1 October 2026.
Previous 12 months: 15 (40% 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 Palmwoods
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Palmwoods 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 998, and decile 7 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Palmwoods's 6,357 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Palmwoods, the wider ABS statistical area containing Palmwoods. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Palmwoods itself.
8,062 in 2001 to 13,537 in 2025, up 68%.
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.
Palmwoods 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 |
| 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 Palmwoods 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 80% of Palmwoods. 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 Palmwoods. 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 Palmwoods lot.
Palmwoods planning - frequently asked
Is Palmwoods flood-prone?
About 20% of Palmwoods falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 30%. Across the suburb, 18% of the 3,104 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 395 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Palmwoods; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Palmwoods bushfire-prone?
Around 43% of Palmwoods is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Sunshine Coast Regional average of 38%.
Is Palmwoods under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 80% of Palmwoods, and over about 100% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 4,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 1 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 Palmwoods?
The dominant planning zone in Palmwoods is Rural, though the suburb also includes Low Density Residential and Environmental Management and Conservation.
Does Palmwoods have heritage-listed places?
Palmwoods has 11 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Palmwoods hilly or flat?
Palmwoods is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 9%, and 13% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 19 m to 63 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Palmwoods?
Across 2,901 surveyed parcels in Palmwoods, the median lot size is about 801 m². There are also 1,198 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Palmwoods have a train station?
Yes - Palmwoods has 1 train station: Palmwoods station. It is also served by 11 bus stops.
What is the population of Palmwoods?
At the 2021 Census Palmwoods had 6,357 usual residents, with a median age of 43 and an average household size of 2.7 people. The wider Palmwoods statistical area, which contains Palmwoods, went from 8,062 people in 2001 to 13,537 in 2025, up 68%.
Is Palmwoods an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Palmwoods scores 998 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 7 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Palmwoods?
Median household income in Palmwoods was $1,738 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,677 for the typical suburb in Sunshine Coast Regional. Median rent was $430 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,878 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevallum | 3.5 km | 42% | 42% |
| Hunchy | 3.9 km | 1% | 43% |
| Woombye | 4.0 km | 20% | 25% |
| West Woombye | 4.0 km | 14% | 43% |
| Landers Shoot | 4.1 km | <1% | 73% |
| Eudlo | 4.7 km | 8% | 65% |
| Coes Creek | 5.1 km | 22% | 34% |
| Forest Glen | 5.3 km | 49% | 34% |
| Ilkley | 5.6 km | 5% | 78% |
| Kiels Mountain | 6.0 km | 6% | 47% |