Forest Lake - Ellen Grove is still affordable
Forest Lake - Ellen Grove 4078 · Forest Lake - Oxley, Greater Brisbane, QLD
Forest Lake - Ellen Grove is still relatively affordable to rent, with a median of $380 a week at the 2021 Census; a young, family-heavy area (median age 36), and the ABS figures show little working against it.
Mostly free-standing houses, with a median age of 36 and households on a median $1,900 a week at the 2021 Census.
Compiled from ABS regional population (SA2), the 2021 Census, SEIFA 2021, OpenStreetMap and Queensland Open Data · figures current to August 2026.
How the population has changed
Forest Lake - Ellen Grove against the Queensland average, both set to 100 in the first year shown so the growth rates compare.
Forest Lake - Ellen Grove population grew from 22,243 in 2016 to 24,080 in 2025, a change of 8.3% over the period, against the Queensland average.
Show the data table
| Year | Forest Lake - Ellen Grove | Queensland average |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 22,243 | 4,845,152 |
| 2017 | 22,388 | 4,926,380 |
| 2018 | 22,549 | 5,006,623 |
| 2019 | 22,726 | 5,088,847 |
| 2020 | 22,896 | 5,165,613 |
| 2021 | 22,916 | 5,215,814 |
| 2022 | 23,034 | 5,310,905 |
| 2023 | 23,599 | 5,450,235 |
| 2024 | 23,983 | 5,571,890 |
| 2025 | 24,080 | 5,669,764 |
Where the growth is coming from
Forest Lake - Ellen Grove gained 1,861 residents from internal migration and 536 from overseas in the year to June 2025, while 2,432 people moved away — a net addition of -35 before natural increase.
- Internal migration in+1,861
- Internal migration out+2,211
- Overseas migration in+536
- Natural increase+132
Components of population change over the sample year. Natural increase is shown apart from migration so the two are not read as one figure.
How it has changed
Census · five-yearlyThe 2016 Census against 2021. Older figures are mapped onto today's boundaries via the ABS Time Series Profile, so comparisons are approximate where borders moved.
| Measure | 2016 | 2021 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 21,433 | 22,478 | +4.9% |
| Median age | 35 | 36 | +1 yr |
| Median household income | $1,695/wk | $1,900/wk | +12% |
| Median weekly rent | $366/wk | $380/wk | +3.8% |
| Born overseas | 38.9% | 40.6% | +1.7 pts |
Who lives here
Census · five-yearlyFrom the 2021 Census. Each figure carries its definition, so you know what is being counted.
People
Income
Housing
Work
How homes are held
- Owned outright 23.1%
- Mortgaged 43.0%
- Rented 31.4%
- Other / not stated 2.4%
How well-off the area is
Census · five-yearlyThe ABS SEIFA indexes rank every area by relative advantage and disadvantage. Decile 1 is the lowest tenth of Australia; decile 10 is the highest.
- Relative disadvantage (IRSD)Lower decile means more relative disadvantageDecile 5score 1,007
- Advantage & disadvantage (IRSAD)Higher decile means more relative advantageDecile 5score 995
- Economic resources (IER)Income and housing capacityDecile 6score 1,019
- Education & occupation (IEO)Education and occupational skill levelsDecile 6score 996
Getting around, and what's nearby
OpenStreetMap · quarterlyWhat OpenStreetMap records inside the suburb boundary. Counts reflect what is tagged in OSM and can undercount a real but less-mapped area.
Within the Forest Lake - Ellen Grove SA2, OpenStreetMap records 5 schools, 3 childcare and kindergarten centres, 2 GP or clinic locations, 3 supermarkets and 65 parks. For families: 31 playgrounds. Eating out and socialising: 2 cafés, 1 restaurant and 2 pubs and bars. Staying active: 24 sports fields. Also 2 shopping centres. The nearest train station, Richlands, is about 2,900 m from the suburb centre. OpenStreetMap also maps 53 bus stops here.
List every mapped place
Schools
- Grand Avenue State School
- Forest Lake State School
- Saint Johns Anglican College
- Saint John's Anglican College
- Forest Lake State High School
Childcare & kindergartens
- Goodstart Early Learning
- Forest Lake Child Care Centre
- Goodstart Early Learning Forest Lake
Shopping centres
- Forest Lake Shopping Centre
- Kmart
GPs & clinics
- Horizon Family Doctors
- Grand Medical Centre
Supermarkets
- Woolworths
- Coles
- Aldi
Parks
- Cook Street Park
- Boronia Park
- Barrier Place Park
- Argyle Place Park
- The Lake Parklands
- Pine Village Park
- Flinders Crescent Park
- Desoto Place Park
Schools
Every open Queensland school whose campus sits inside the SA2 boundary, with the average ICSEA across them. Open a school for its own ICSEA, student background and a link to My School.
The Forest Lake - Ellen Grove SA2 contains 4 schools — 2 primary schools and 2 secondary schools, of which 3 are government and 1 non-government. Its schools with a published ICSEA average 1034 (1000 is the national average); each school's own figure and student background are on its page. NAPLAN results for each school are on its My School profile (ACARA). For area context, Forest Lake - Ellen Grove sits in decile 6 of the ABS SEIFA index of education and occupation nationally and 70% of adults here completed Year 12 (Census 2021).
The centre of this SA2 is zoned for Forest Lake State School (primary), Forest Lake State High School (junior secondary), Forest Lake State High School (senior secondary).
Parts of the SA2 also fall in the catchment of Grand Avenue State School (primary), Richlands East State School (primary), Carole Park State School (primary), Serviceton South State School (primary), Pallara State School (primary), Glenala State High School (junior secondary), Glenala State High School (senior secondary).
Catchments can divide a suburb — confirm your address on EdMap.
Show school list
- Forest Lake State School · State · Prep–6
- Grand Avenue State School · State · Prep–6
- Forest Lake State High School · State · 7–12
- St John's Anglican College (College Ave, Forest Lake) · Independent · 7–12
School list & catchments: Queensland Government Open Data (Department of Education), licensed CC BY 4.0. ICSEA: ACARA School Profile. NAPLAN: myschool.edu.au (ACARA).
Nearby, in Forest Lake - Oxley
Others in the same ABS district, by population growth. If this one doesn't fit, one of these might.
- HereForest Lake - Ellen Grove+0.4%
- 01Darra - Sumner+2.8%
- 02Inala - Richlands+2.5%
- 03Doolandella+1.8%
- 04Wacol+1.0%
- 05Durack+0.8%
- 06Oxley (Qld)+0.7%
Dots place each suburb's growth on the same scale, slowest at left.
Weighing up another suburb?
Type a name, then pick from the list. Every suburb is compared to the Queensland average.