Australia’s richest surf beaches are more likely to be home to doctors, computer nerds, advertising executives and finance specialists than laidback surfies, new data has revealed.
Massive six-figures salaries are now typical among locals at Sydney‘s Bondi Beach, Perth‘s Cottesloe Beach and Melbourne‘s Portsea.
But traditional heartland hangouts still offer an option for those wanting the sundrenched saltwater lifestyle on a budget.
Byron Bay, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Victoria’s Surf Coast and the tropical havens of Broome and Port Douglas all still offer a home to those on more meagre incomes.
Here’s what you need to earn to live at Australia’s most idyllic beachside postcodes, and the kind of jobs that are typical, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics and tax office figures.
Cottesloe
Cottesloe Beach, where the Indian Ocean meets Perth’s Swan River, is Australia’s richest surf beach with an average taxable income of $295,283.
The typical local earns four times Australia’s average taxable income of $72,327.
Cottesloe Beach, bordered by the Indian Ocean and Perth’s Swan River, is Australia’s richest surf beach with an average taxable income of $295,283
Bondi Beach still relatively rich with an average, taxable income of $147,052 in the 2026 postcode
The 6011 postcode is home to billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest but doctors are much more common with hospital professionals and lawyers topping the list of occupations in the 2021 Census.
Bondi
Sydney’s eastern suburbs is home to five of Australia’s top 10 postcodes for the highest pay, but not Bondi, despite having some particularly wealthy neighbours.
Computer designers topped the list of the most common occupation here, making it Australia’s demographic answer to California’s Silicon Valley.
Advertising was next on the list, suggesting creative types are drawn to the hub for celebrities, actors and models.
Australia’s most famous beach, however, is still relatively rich with an average, taxable income of $147,052 in the 2026 postcode.
Portsea
Melbourne’s haven for the wealthy, Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula, is a one-hour drive from the city and has a particularly high taxable income of $221,867.
The home of trucking magnate Lindsay Fox is also a particularly popular place for those working in finance followed by management consultancy.
The elite 3944 postcode also covers Cheviot Beach where Liberal prime minister Harold Holt drowned in December 1967, never to be seen again.
Byron Bay
Australia’s most easterly point, Byron Bay, was an abattoir town until 1983 and until 1962 had a whaling station but is these days the holistic home of gluten-free and vegan restaurants.
The gentrified beach postcode of 2481 – where actor Chris Hemsworth lives in a mansion – now has an average income of $84,268, with hospitality jobs the most common occupation in this part of northern New South Wales.
Byron Bay now has an average income of $89,588, with hospitality jobs the most common occupation in this part of northern New South Wales
Gold Coast
Surfers Paradise, the Gold Coast’s most famous beach, is also most commonly an employer of those working in cafes and restaurants, with $77,045 the average taxable income in south-east Queensland’s 4217 postcode.
Adelaide
Adelaide’s Glenelg Beach is more likely to be home to nurses, with $80,657 the average taxable income in the 5045 postcode.
Broome
Western Australia’s Kimberley region is the home of Broome, best known for sunset camel rides and the pearling industry.
But locals in the 6725 postcode are more likely to be nurses with the average taxable income of $72,612 being very close to the national average.
Surfers Paradise, the Gold Coast’s most famous beach, is also most commonly an employer of those working in cafes and restaurants, with $77,045 the average taxable income
Port Douglas
This tropical paradise north of Cairns, in far north Queensland, is where former U.S. president Bill Clinton was holidaying, playing golf when the planes hit New York’s Twin Towers in September 2001.
The tourist town’s biggest employer is accommodation, giving the 4877 postcode a low average taxable income of $55,946.
Surf Coast
The Great Ocean Road town of Bells Beach, on Victoria’s Surf Coast, is intriguingly the home of printing and antique shop jobs, having a typical taxable income of $83,183 in the 3228 postcode.