Rainbow Beach flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Rainbow Beach
(Gympie Regional, QLD) - 14.25 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 12 September 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
14.25 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Rainbow Beach's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Rainbow Beach at a glance
Schools in and near Rainbow Beach
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
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: 6.05 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 Rainbow Beach is zoned
Selling in Rainbow 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 14.25 km², Rainbow Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 16% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 90% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Environmental Management And Conservation. The median lot measures about 660 m² across 1,487 parcels.
Who lives in Rainbow Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Rainbow 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 934, and decile 4 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Rainbow Beach's 1,220 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Cooloola, the wider ABS statistical area containing Rainbow Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Rainbow Beach itself.
3,778 in 2001 to 7,148 in 2025, up 89%.
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.
Rainbow Beach 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 |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
Profile last materially updated 12 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 Rainbow 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.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Rainbow Beach lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Rainbow Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Rainbow Beach flood-prone?
About 16% of Rainbow Beach falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 41%.
Is Rainbow Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 90% of Rainbow Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Gympie Regional average of 67%.
What is the zoning in Rainbow Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Rainbow Beach is Environmental Management And Conservation, though the suburb also includes Residential Living and Tourist Accommodation.
Does Rainbow Beach have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Rainbow Beach.
What is the typical lot size in Rainbow Beach?
Across 1,487 surveyed parcels in Rainbow Beach, the median lot size is about 660 m². There are also 65 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Rainbow Beach have a train station?
There is no train station inside Rainbow Beach itself. The suburb is served by 6 bus stops.
What is the population of Rainbow Beach?
At the 2021 Census Rainbow Beach had 1,220 usual residents, with a median age of 56 and an average household size of 2.0 people. The wider Cooloola statistical area, which contains Rainbow Beach, went from 3,778 people in 2001 to 7,148 in 2025, up 89%.
Is Rainbow Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Rainbow Beach scores 934 and sits in decile 3 of 10 nationally and decile 4 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Rainbow Beach?
Median household income in Rainbow Beach was $972 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,314 for the typical suburb in Gympie Regional. Median rent was $280 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,605 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inskip | 6.9 km | 60% | 43% |
| Cooloola Cove | 11.4 km | 20% | 75% |
| Tin Can Bay | 12.3 km | 17% | 87% |
| Cooloola | 14.2 km | 4% | 93% |
| Tin Can Bay Fraser Coast Regional |
14.8 km | 27% | 87% |
| Tinnanbar Fraser Coast Regional |
17.6 km | 40% | 76% |
| Wallu | 17.7 km | 27% | 100% |
| Poona Fraser Coast Regional |
26.7 km | 41% | 64% |
| Toolara Forest | 27.5 km | 40% | 100% |
| Toolara Forest Fraser Coast Regional |
30.2 km | 22% | 99% |