What our residents value above all else

Residents across the Sunshine Coast have ranked what is most important to them in their neighbourhood, with one major difference in values compared to the state average.

Coming out on top of residents’ priority list was being able to enjoy the natural environment, according to the annual Living on the Sunshine Coast survey.

Compared to the average Australian or Queenslander, Sunshine Coast residents placed significantly higher importance on being able to access the environment.

Sunshine Coast residents also rated their experience of accessing the natural environment higher than the Australian and Queensland average.

Along with respondents surveyed across Australia, residents also placed higher emphasis on affordable housing than in previous years.

This year 1734 residents contributed their views on liveability, wellbeing, financial circumstances and their concerns, including the challenges they believed the region is facing.

The annual survey seeks to answer how 'liveable' residents perceive their neighbourhood to be by identifying the factors they consider important in making a place more liveable, and how they experience those factors.

Among respondents, the top five elements of importance to liveability in 2023 were:

• access to the natural environment
• feeling safe
• high quality health services
• a lack of road congestion
• affordable decent housing

The Living on the Sunshine Coast survey

Sunshine Coast Council engages independent demographers .id to manage the annual survey and results for a robust survey and data analysis process.

Results of the survey enable Council to monitor the progress of its regional strategies and help inform Council plans and advocacy.

You can explore the full Living on the Sunshine Coast survey findings online, along with many more local data insights.