Runaway Bay flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Runaway Bay
(Gold Coast City, QLD) - 7.36 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 19 September 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
7.36 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Runaway Bay's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Runaway Bay properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 5,309 Runaway Bay properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 5,309 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Runaway Bay.
Runaway Bay at a glance
Schools in and near Runaway Bay
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: 0.70 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 Runaway Bay is zoned
Selling in Runaway Bay? 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 7.36 km², Runaway Bay is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 78% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 13% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Low density residential. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 670 m² across 5,147 parcels.
Recent development applications in Runaway Bay
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public City of Gold Coast register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
Latest included submission: 18 September 2026.
Previous 12 months: 79 (16% lower in the latest period).
Common application types
- Material change of use: 10
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 19 September 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Runaway Bay
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Runaway Bay 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 1012, and decile 8 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Runaway Bay's 9,308 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Runaway Bay, the wider ABS statistical area containing Runaway Bay. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Runaway Bay itself.
8,969 in 2001 to 9,755 in 2025, up 9%.
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.
Runaway Bay 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 |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | City of Gold Coast |
Profile last materially updated 19 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 Runaway Bay 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.
Published flood models are held over parts of Runaway Bay. 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 (+$9 with the planning report).
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Runaway Bay lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Runaway Bay planning - frequently asked
Is Runaway Bay flood-prone?
About 78% of Runaway Bay falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 38%. Across the suburb, 91% of the 5,309 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 4403 rated high risk or historically affected.
Is Runaway Bay bushfire-prone?
Around 13% of Runaway Bay is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Gold Coast City average of 50%.
What is the zoning in Runaway Bay?
The dominant planning zone in Runaway Bay is Low density residential, though the suburb also includes Medium density residential and Conservation.
Does Runaway Bay have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Runaway Bay.
Is Runaway Bay hilly or flat?
Runaway Bay is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 3%. Ground level runs from roughly 2 m to 5 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Runaway Bay?
Across 5,147 surveyed parcels in Runaway Bay, the median lot size is about 670 m². There are also 305 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Runaway Bay have a train station?
There is no train station inside Runaway Bay itself. The suburb is served by 35 bus stops.
What is the population of Runaway Bay?
At the 2021 Census Runaway Bay had 9,308 usual residents, with a median age of 54 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Runaway Bay statistical area, which contains Runaway Bay, went from 8,969 people in 2001 to 9,755 in 2025, up 9%.
Is Runaway Bay an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Runaway Bay scores 1012 and sits in decile 7 of 10 nationally and decile 8 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Runaway Bay?
Median household income in Runaway Bay was $1,382 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,830 for the typical suburb in Gold Coast City. Median rent was $435 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,000 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywell | 1.9 km | 72% | 27% |
| Biggera Waters | 2.2 km | 66% | <1% |
| Coombabah | 3.1 km | 76% | 61% |
| Labrador | 3.7 km | 50% | 9% |
| Paradise Point | 3.8 km | 92% | 2% |
| Arundel | 4.7 km | 27% | 56% |
| Main Beach | 5.6 km | 71% | 0% |
| Parkwood | 5.8 km | 18% | 46% |
| Hope Island | 6.4 km | 74% | 21% |
| Helensvale | 6.5 km | 57% | 31% |