Helensvale, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Helensvale is a planned suburb on the northern hinterland fringe of the City of Gold Coast, bounded by the Pacific Motorway to the west and the Coomera River to the north, with Saltwater Creek forming part of its north-eastern edge. The suburb takes its name from a sugar plantation established in the district around 1870 by Arthur Robinson and Ernest White; Helena was the name of White's youngest sister. It was formally gazetted as a locality in 1979 and recognised as a suburb in 2003. Helensvale was the first fully integrated suburb developed on this part of the coast, welcoming its earliest residents in the 1980s with a shopping centre, state primary and secondary schools, a golf course and a bowls club. Today it functions as a major transport hub: its station is the only point on the Gold Coast where heavy rail, the G:link light rail and buses interconnect, offering a single-transfer trip towards Brisbane.
More advantaged than the national average
Helensvale is more socio-economically advantaged than about 73% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1029, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Helensvale a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Helensvale from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
73/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (73/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
7/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $495 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 7% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Helensvale at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 18,949
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $2,014
- SEIFA score
- 1029
- Local government area
- Gold Coast
- Coordinates
- -27.9088, 153.3308
Map of Helensvale
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Helensvale
What it costs to live in Helensvale and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $495
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,098
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 77%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 19%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Helensvale demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Helensvale demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Helensvale using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is mid-life (45–64) at 28% and 34% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 3,455 | 18% |
| Youth (15–24) | 2,510 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 4,467 | 24% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 5,263 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 3,246 | 17% |
Share of the 18,941 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,971 | 31% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 2,931 | 46% |
| Rented | 1,209 | 19% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 5,181 | 81% |
| Townhouses & semis | 915 | 14% |
| Flats & apartments | 257 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 6,368 occupied private dwellings in Helensvale.
- Average household size
- 2.8 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,211
- Median weekly personal income
- $790
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 6,204 (34%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 2,716 (15%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 365 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 8,736 (59%)
- Labour-force participation
- 64.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.2%
- Employed full-time
- 5,380
- Employed part-time
- 3,141
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Weather and climate in Helensvale
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Helensvale is January (average daytime high around 28.6°C) and the coolest is July (around 20.5°C). The area receives roughly 1052 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28.6°C | 21.4°C | 109 mm |
| Feb | 28.3°C | 21.3°C | 164 mm |
| Mar | 27.5°C | 20.7°C | 159 mm |
| Apr | 25.1°C | 17.9°C | 55 mm |
| May | 22.8°C | 15.2°C | 85 mm |
| Jun | 20.8°C | 12.8°C | 58 mm |
| Jul | 20.5°C | 11.8°C | 43 mm |
| Aug | 21.9°C | 12.4°C | 42 mm |
| Sep | 23.9°C | 14.4°C | 42 mm |
| Oct | 25.5°C | 16.8°C | 93 mm |
| Nov | 27.2°C | 18.6°C | 75 mm |
| Dec | 28.3°C | 20.4°C | 127 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Helensvale
Is Helensvale a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Helensvale rates 51/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Helensvale?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Helensvale was $495, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,098. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Helensvale?
Helensvale is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Gold Coast local government area.
What is the population of Helensvale?
At the 2021 Census, Helensvale had a population of about 18,949.
Is Helensvale an advantaged area?
Helensvale has an ABS SEIFA score of 1029, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 73 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 73% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Helensvale?
Helensvale has average daytime highs of about 25°C and overnight lows of about 17°C, with roughly 1,052 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Helensvale?
Helensvale is one of the most populous suburbs in Queensland — the 19th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 18,949 usual residents).
Where Helensvale ranks
Helensvale appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in Queensland#19 of 25
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
More suburb guides in Queensland
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.