Surfers Paradise, QLD

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 30 May 2026

Surfers Paradise is a beachside suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland, roughly 78 km south of Brisbane. It sits on a long stretch of surf beach backed by a beachfront promenade and one of Australia's most recognisable high-rise skylines, which began with the Kinkabool tower in 1959. The area was known as Elston until it was renamed Surfers Paradise in late 1933, and it has grown into one of the country's best-known holiday and nightlife destinations. The Cavill Avenue precinct forms the commercial and tourist heart of the suburb, and the Meter Maids, introduced in 1965, remain an enduring local emblem.

55/100

Suburb Score

Around the national middle

Surfers Paradise is more socio-economically advantaged than about 55% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 996, 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 Surfers Paradise 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.

55/100

Livability

Around the national middle

A weighted blend of the 3 components we can score for Surfers Paradise 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

55/100

Around the national middle

Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (55/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021

Housing affordability

16/100

Among the more expensive suburbs

Median weekly rent was $410 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 16% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021

Amenities & access

92/100

Plenty mapped nearby

About 291 everyday places (cafés, shops, services and more) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. · OpenStreetMap

Not yet scored

We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.

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.

Surfers Paradise at a glance

Population (2021): 26,412
Median age: 42
Median weekly household income: $1,323
SEIFA score: 996
Local government area: Gold Coast
Coordinates: -28.0057, 153.4224

Map of Surfers Paradise

Housing & property in Surfers Paradise

What it costs to live in Surfers Paradise and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.

Median rent: $410; per week
Median mortgage: $1,606; per month
Owner-occupied: 45%; of dwellings
Rented: 51%; of dwellings

The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Surfers Paradise demographics section below.

How we treat property data. StreetScout shows official ABS housing figures and nothing more — no sale-price estimates, no real-estate agent referrals or lead capture, and we never pass your details to anyone. Just the public data, so you can read Surfers Paradise for yourself.

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.

Surfers Paradise demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Surfers Paradise 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 young adults (25–44) at 34% and 46% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	2,065	8%
Youth (15–24)	2,853	11%
Young adults (25–44)	9,104	34%
Mid-life (45–64)	6,701	25%
Seniors (65+)	5,695	22%

Share of the 26,418 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	3,060	27%
Owned with a mortgage	2,082	18%
Rented	5,850	51%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	1,147	10%
Townhouses & semis	842	7%
Flats & apartments	9,277	81%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 11,422 occupied private dwellings in Surfers Paradise.

Average household size: 1.9 people
Median weekly family income: $1,707
Median weekly personal income: $775

Community and culture

Born overseas: 10,485 (46%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 6,497 (28%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 313 (1%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 14,167 (59%)
Labour-force participation: 55.7%
Unemployment rate: 7.1%
Employed full-time: 5,975
Employed part-time: 5,024

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 Surfers Paradise

Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Surfers Paradise is January (average daytime high around 27.4°C) and the coolest is July (around 20.2°C). The area receives roughly 1098 mm of rain across the year.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain
Jan	27.4°C	21.9°C	108 mm
Feb	27.3°C	21.8°C	182 mm
Mar	26.7°C	21.2°C	171 mm
Apr	24.6°C	18.7°C	64 mm
May	22.5°C	16.1°C	88 mm
Jun	20.5°C	13.9°C	66 mm
Jul	20.2°C	12.7°C	49 mm
Aug	21.3°C	13.3°C	49 mm
Sep	22.9°C	15.1°C	43 mm
Oct	24.3°C	17.4°C	89 mm
Nov	25.8°C	19.1°C	70 mm
Dec	27°C	20.8°C	119 mm

Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).

Places in and around Surfers Paradise

Amenities mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre, from OpenStreetMap. A guide to what's nearby — not a complete directory.

Eat & drink

142+ nearby

McDonald's · Hog's Breath Cafe · Sushi Train · Max Brenner · KFC · Costa

Parks & recreation

116+ nearby

Centrepoint Health Club · Funk Fitness · Anytime Fitness · BMD Northcliffe SLSC · Surfers Paradise SLSC · Snap Fitness

Shops & groceries

12+ nearby

Woolworths · Coles · The 4217 · HARRIS FARM MARKETS · Reddy Express · 7-Eleven

Healthcare

5+ nearby

Vitality Unleashed Psychology · Evendale Practice · Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology · My Doctors Clinic Surfers Paradise · My Green Medical

Schools & education

3+ nearby

Surfers Paradise State School · Early Learning Centre · Kool Kids

Things to do

13+ nearby

Skypoint Observaton Deck · Gold Coast Wax Museum · Keeper of Light · Aquaduck · Tiki Statue · Cavill Mall

Eat & drink in and around Surfers Paradise

Cafés, restaurants, pubs and takeaway mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre. Listings are drawn from OpenStreetMap and shown as plain data — we don't rank or rate them.

Own a café, restaurant or pub around here?

Claim your listing to feature it at the top of this section. Placement is paid advertising, clearly labelled — never editorial opinion.

Claim this listing

Alfresco Italian RestaurantRestaurant
3018-3030 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradisealfrescogc.com
Amimoto JapaneseRestaurant
24 Orchid Avenue, Surfers Paradise
Arabesque BazaarCafé
3240 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise
Authentic spice kitchenRestaurant
40 Hanlan Street, Surfers Paradise
Baha's Grils Kebab's and PizzaTakeaway
Beach Club CafeCafé
9 Hamilton Avenue, Surfers Paradiseq1.com.au
Betty's BurgersTakeaway
3240 Surfers Paradise Boulevardbettysburger.com.au
Brooklyn DepotTakeaway
10 Beach Road, Surfers Paradise
Central Lounge bar＆DiningRestaurant
Orchid Avenue
Chaopraya Thai RestaurantRestaurant
3031 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise
Chocolateria San ChurroTakeaway
3184 Surfers Paradise Boulevardsanchurro.com
Circle ExpressoCafé
3184 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise
CostaCafé
Curry ExpressRestaurant
3031 Surfers Paradise Boulevardcurryexpresssurfersparadise.com.au
D'Arcy ArmsPub
darcyarms.com.au
Deja viewRestaurant
22 View Avenue, Surfers Paradise
Delhi DarbarRestaurant
3018 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradisedelhidarbarindian.com.au
ESPL CoffeeCafé
4 The Esplanade
Fugi SushiRestaurant
38 Laycock Street
German SausagesRestaurant
3018 shop 2 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise
Greek on SoulRestaurant
The Esplanade, Surfers Paradisegreekstreet.com.au
Hog's Breath CafeRestaurant
9 Cavill Avenue, Surfers Paradisehogsbreath.com.au
House of BrewsBar
Hungry Jack'sTakeaway
Hurricane's Grill Surfers ParadiseRestaurant
4-14 The Esplanade, Surfers Paradisesurfers.hurricanesgrill.com.au
Ice Cream CopenhagenTakeaway
Indian Gate restaurantRestaurant
KFCTakeaway
Koreana BBQ RestaurantTakeaway
La PorchattaRestaurant
Legends Seafood RestaurantRestaurant
3041 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise
Lemongrass Thai on ChevronRestaurant
54 Thomas Drive, Surfers Paradiselemongrassthaionchevron.com
Lime MexicanRestaurant
Longboards Laidback Eatery & BarTakeaway
9 Hamilton Avenuelongboardsbar.com.au
Max BrennerCafé
3240 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradisemaxbrenner.com.au
McDonald'sTakeaway
Mondo Woodfire pizzaTakeaway
3003 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradisemondopizza.com.au
Nando'sRestaurant
Oliver Brown Chocolate cafeCafé
The Esplanade, Surfers Paradiseoliverbrown.com.au
One 50 Public HouseRestaurant
150 Bundall Roadone50.com.au
OportoTakeaway
oporto.com.au
Pancakes in ParadiseCafé
3046 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradisepancakesinsurfersparadise.com.au
Paradox Coffee RoastersCafé
10 Beach Road, Surfers Paradiseparadoxroasters.com
Pizza & KebabsTakeaway
Rice vs NoddleTakeaway
Salt Meats CheeseTakeaway
10 Beach Road, Surfers Paradise
Shamrock BarBar
StarbucksCafé
Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradisestarbucks.com.au
SubwayTakeaway
Surfers Paradise Surf LifeRestaurant
surfersparadiseslsc.com.au
Sushi TrainRestaurant
Taj Palace Indian RestaurantRestaurant
tajpalacerestaurant.com.au
The Cavill HotelBar
Beach Road, Surfers Paradisethecavillhotel.com.au
The Coffee ClubCafé
Tribeca NYCRestaurant
58 Thomas Drive, Surfers Paradisetribecanyc.com.au
Waxy's Irish pubBar
3206 Surfers Paradise Boulevardwaxysirishpub.com.au
White Rhino Bar & EatsRestaurant
55 Cavill Avenue, Surfers Paradisewhite-rhino.com.au
Zanette's GelatiTakeaway
Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradisezanettes.com.au
zaza Kebabs PizzaTakeaway
Zi KebabTakeaway

Showing 60 mapped places; more may exist that aren't yet on OpenStreetMap.

Share your local knowledge of Surfers Paradise

Lived here or spent time in Surfers Paradise? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.

Common questions about Surfers Paradise

Is Surfers Paradise a good place to live?

There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage, housing affordability and amenities, Surfers Paradise rates 55/100 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 Surfers Paradise?

At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Surfers Paradise was $410, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,606. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.

Where is Surfers Paradise?

Surfers Paradise is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Gold Coast local government area.

What is the population of Surfers Paradise?

At the 2021 Census, Surfers Paradise had a population of about 26,412.

Is Surfers Paradise an advantaged area?

Surfers Paradise has an ABS SEIFA score of 996, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 55 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 55% of Australian suburbs.

What is the weather like in Surfers Paradise?

Surfers Paradise has average daytime highs of about 24.2°C and overnight lows of about 17.7°C, with roughly 1,098 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).

How big is Surfers Paradise?

Surfers Paradise is one of the most populous suburbs in Queensland — the 5th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 26,412 usual residents).

Where Surfers Paradise ranks

Surfers Paradise appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.

Largest suburbs in Queensland#5 of 25

Nearby suburbs in Queensland

More suburb guides in Queensland

Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.