QLD · Gladstone Council
Sun Valley, 4680
Current weather
20°CClear sky
90% humidity · 6.4 km/h wind · 23.5° / 15° today · 0.2 mm rain
Updated
Desirability score
- Green suburb
- High desirability
Suburb profile
In Gladstone, Sun Valley keeps a rural calm, a smaller community with room to breathe and a strong local rhythm. Life revolves around the local community, with the wider region offering trips and services when needed. The landscape itself is part of the lifestyle: open paddocks, big skies and room to breathe.
Residents are mostly families and working professionals, with family life visible on every street. Life here is grounded in local routine rather than big-city choice, and that is part of the charm. There is enough green space nearby for walks, picnics and after-school play.
Homes are relatively affordable, which helps families and first-time residents put down roots. The streetscape feels settled and established, with older homes giving the area a familiar, lived-in look.
On the desirability index, the suburb sits below average overall, mainly because local dining and lifestyle amenities and community and employment lag similar regional towns, despite relative strength in safety. Limited access to some essential local services also trimmed the result.
Population
- Population
- 1,296
- Median age
- 38
- Median household income / week
- $1,520
- Dwelling vacancy
- 10.7%
- Unoccupied private dwellings
- 58 of 542
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,400
- Employment rate
- 57%
- Dwelling mix (houses / semi / flats)
- 55 / 3 / 16
Contributes to desirability score · Community (5%)
Employment, household income and age diversity (2021 Census)
Data sources & freshness
- 2021 Census — General Community Profile — Australian Bureau of Statistics · Period: 2021 · Updated on site · 2021 Census release
The 2026 Census runs in August 2026; suburb-level updates are expected from mid-2027.
Crime & safety
- Total offences (Jan 2026 to Jul 2026)
- 63
- Against the person
- 16
- Against property
- 22
- Rate per 1,000 residents
- 48.6
- Person-crime prevalence
- About 1 in 81 residents
- State safety percentile
- 64.2th (lower crime is better)
- Decrease (daily rate, partial year)
- -11.5%
Reported offences are running lower than the same point last year.
Reported offences by period
Most common offence types
- Assault268
- Drug Offences489
- Good Order Offences341
- Other Theft (Excl. Unlawful Entry)485
- Traffic And Related Offences423
Contributes to desirability score · Safety (18%)
Crime rate and year-on-year trend
Data sources & freshness
- QPS Online Crime Map — Queensland Police Service · Period: Jan 2025 to Dec 2025 → Jan 2026 to Jul 2026; Jan 2026 to Jul 2026 · Updated on site · Calendar-year aggregates
Amenities
5 nearby amenities within ~1.5 km
- Convenience store
- Petrol station
- Central Soccer ClubSports centre
- Gladstone BMXSports centre
- Sports field
Names and addresses from OpenStreetMap. Unnamed venues show as their type (e.g. Cafe).
Contributes to desirability score · Lifestyle (15%)
Food, shopping, recreation and sport (OpenStreetMap)
Data sources & freshness
- OpenStreetMap amenities — OpenStreetMap contributors · Period: current · Updated on site · Weekly refresh
Parks & reserves
4 parks and public open space in this suburb
- Archer ParkPark
- Kathleen Shanahan Memorial ParkPark
- Sun Valley ParkPark
- Tigalee ParkPark
Data sources & freshness
- Parks & reserves — State government + ABS LGA boundaries · Period: current · Updated on site
Socio-economic (SEIFA)
- IRSAD decile (2021)
- 1/10
- IRSD decile (2021)
- 2/10
SEIFA indexes from ABS 2021. Decile 10 = most advantaged / least disadvantaged in Australia.
Contributes to desirability score · Community (5%)
Socio-economic advantage (IRSAD decile)
Data sources & freshness
- SEIFA 2021 (IRSAD / IRSD) — Australian Bureau of Statistics · Period: 2021 · Updated on site · 2021 SEIFA release
Hazards
- Bushfire planning zone
- No overlay at centroid
Bushfire overlay checked at suburb centroid via Queensland Bushfire Prone Area mapping.
Contributes to desirability score · Safety (18%)
Bushfire hazard overlays
Data sources & freshness
- Hazard planning overlays — State government hazard layers · Period: current · Updated on site
Green cover
- Parks & woodland (OSM)
- 4
- Parks (OSM)
- 4
OpenStreetMap parks and natural woodland features mapped within the suburb boundary.
Contributes to desirability score · Environment (10%)
Parks and green cover (OpenStreetMap)
Data sources & freshness
- OpenStreetMap green cover features — OpenStreetMap contributors · Period: current · Updated on site · Weekly refresh
Desirability Index
- Desirability score
- 40.5/100 — Average
- National rank
- 3401st in Australia
- State rank
- 779th in QLD
- Peer rank
- #246 among Country & regional · Established suburbs
- Cohort rank
- #371 among Country & regional suburbs
- Data confidence
- 58%
Data sources & freshness
- Suburb Guide desirability index — Suburb Guide (derived score) · Period: current · Updated on site · Derived from source metrics
Recent changes
- Central Soccer Clubamenitiessports_centre
- Convenience storeamenitiesconvenience
- Gladstone BMXamenitiessports_centre
- Petrol stationamenitiesfuel
- Sports fieldamenitiespitch
- Assaultcrime268
- Drug Offencescrime489
- Good Order Offencescrime341
- Other Theft (Excl. Unlawful Entry)crime485
- Traffic And Related Offencescrime423
Data sources & freshness
- OpenStreetMap amenities — OpenStreetMap contributors · Updated on site · Weekly refresh
- QPS Online Crime Map — Queensland Police Service · Updated on site · Calendar-year aggregates
More in Gladstone Council
Other suburbs in the same local government area.
Comparable suburbs
Similar population and socio-economic profile in other parts of Queensland.