Surfers Paradise flood map & planning overlays
26,412 residents, 3rd-most in Gold Coast City and 5th in Queensland. A crowd, by any measure.
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 Surfers Paradise
(Gold Coast City, QLD) - 6.17 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
6.17 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Surfers Paradise'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 Surfers Paradise properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 26,036 analysed Surfers Paradise properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 26,036 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Surfers Paradise.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Surfers Paradise
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 2 a day
Night movements: not established - night is sampled as often as day, but too few night flights have been seen here to conclude either way.
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.
Surfers Paradise at a glance
Schools in and near Surfers Paradise
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: 0.29 km from the suburb boundary
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time.
Which school zone is a Surfers Paradise address in? Check an address with our free school zone checker.
How Surfers Paradise is zoned
Selling in Surfers Paradise? 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 6.17 km², Surfers Paradise is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 57% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 1% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 8 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is High density residential. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 763 m² across 25,166 parcels.
Recent development applications in Surfers Paradise
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: 4 November 2026.
Previous 12 months: 122 (32% higher in the latest period).
Common application types
- Material change of use: 22
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 Surfers Paradise
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Surfers Paradise 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 996, and decile 7 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Surfers Paradise's 26,412 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Surfers Paradise - South, the wider ABS statistical area containing Surfers Paradise. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Surfers Paradise itself.
9,102 in 2001 to 17,410 in 2025, up 91%.
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.
Surfers Paradise 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 | City of Gold Coast |
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 Surfers Paradise 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 96% of Surfers Paradise. 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 Surfers Paradise. 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).
Moving here? The Liveability section adds walking times from the address to schools, parks, shops and transport, and the school zones it sits in (+$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 Surfers Paradise lot.
Surfers Paradise planning - frequently asked
Is Surfers Paradise flood-prone?
About 57% of Surfers Paradise falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 35%. Across the suburb, 93% of the 26,036 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 21617 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Surfers Paradise; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Surfers Paradise bushfire-prone?
Around 1% of Surfers Paradise is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Gold Coast City average of 50%.
Is Surfers Paradise under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 96% of Surfers Paradise, 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 1,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 21 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 Surfers Paradise?
The dominant planning zone in Surfers Paradise is High density residential, though the suburb also includes Low density residential and Medium density residential.
Does Surfers Paradise have heritage-listed places?
Surfers Paradise has 8 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Surfers Paradise hilly or flat?
Surfers Paradise is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 3%. Ground level runs from roughly 2 m to 7 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Surfers Paradise?
Across 25,166 surveyed parcels in Surfers Paradise, the median lot size is about 763 m². There are also 382 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Surfers Paradise have a train station?
There is no train station inside Surfers Paradise itself. The suburb is served by 37 bus stops.
What is the population of Surfers Paradise?
At the 2021 Census Surfers Paradise had 26,412 usual residents, with a median age of 42 and an average household size of 1.9 people. The wider Surfers Paradise - South statistical area, which contains Surfers Paradise, went from 9,102 people in 2001 to 17,410 in 2025, up 91%.
Is Surfers Paradise an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Surfers Paradise scores 996 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 Surfers Paradise?
Median household income in Surfers Paradise was $1,323 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,830 for the typical suburb in Gold Coast City. Median rent was $410 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,606 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bundall | 2.3 km | 56% | 4% |
| Broadbeach Waters | 3.2 km | 94% | 10% |
| Broadbeach | 3.4 km | 32% | 0% |
| Southport | 3.4 km | 27% | 25% |
| Benowa | 3.7 km | 46% | 6% |
| Main Beach | 4.4 km | 70% | 0% |
| Ashmore | 5.1 km | 11% | 12% |
| Clear Island Waters | 5.6 km | 88% | 8% |
| Mermaid Beach | 5.7 km | 16% | 0% |
| Carrara | 5.9 km | 68% | 33% |