Rainbow Beach, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Rainbow Beach is a coastal town in the Gympie Region of Queensland, about 240 kilometres north of Brisbane on the shore of Wide Bay. It is named for the multicoloured sand dunes that rise behind the beach, their reds, yellows and ochres coming from minerals in the sand. In Kabi Kabi tradition the colours are explained by the story of Yiningie, a spirit represented by a rainbow. The town sits beside the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park and is a popular gateway to K'gari (Fraser Island), reached by vehicle ferry. Established in 1969 to house mineral-sand miners, it is now mainly a holiday town, drawing far more visitors each year than its small resident population.
Less advantaged than the national average
Rainbow Beach is more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 934, 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 Rainbow Beach 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.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Rainbow Beach 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
22/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (22/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
52/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $280 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 52% 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.
Rainbow Beach at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,220
- Median age
- 56
- Median weekly household income
- $972
- SEIFA score
- 934
- Local government area
- Gympie
- Coordinates
- -25.9055, 153.0748
Map of Rainbow Beach
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Rainbow Beach
What it costs to live in Rainbow Beach and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $280
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,605
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 66%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 30%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Rainbow Beach demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Rainbow Beach demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Rainbow Beach 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 35% and 17% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 141 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 78 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 201 | 17% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 431 | 35% |
| Seniors (65+) | 365 | 30% |
Share of the 1,216 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 228 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 104 | 21% |
| Rented | 154 | 30% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 359 | 70% |
| Townhouses & semis | 81 | 16% |
| Flats & apartments | 43 | 8% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 513 occupied private dwellings in Rainbow Beach.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,271
- Median weekly personal income
- $602
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 177 (17%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 40 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 30 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 421 (40%)
- Labour-force participation
- 45.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.2%
- Employed full-time
- 228
- Employed part-time
- 225
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.
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Common questions about Rainbow Beach
Is Rainbow Beach 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, Rainbow Beach rates 32/100 overall (Lower on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Rainbow Beach?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Rainbow Beach was $280, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,605. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Rainbow Beach?
Rainbow Beach is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Gympie local government area.
What is the population of Rainbow Beach?
At the 2021 Census, Rainbow Beach had a population of about 1,220.
Is Rainbow Beach an advantaged area?
Rainbow Beach has an ABS SEIFA score of 934, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 22 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
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