Which QLD councils raised residential rates most in 2026-27
Ten Queensland councils are ranked here on a like-for-like basis, and the minimum residential general rate rose between 4% and 11.7%, averaging about 7%. Sunshine Coast raised it the most, at 11.7%. Moreton Bay, Brisbane and Cairns held closest to inflation. Here is the full council-by-council comparison, ranked, on a like-for-like minimum-rate basis.
Updated 6 November 2026. We recalibrated our home insurance estimates against ACCC premium data. The insurance and yearly running cost figures in this article use the earlier estimates. Each suburb's page shows the current figure, and the methodology explains the change.
Across 10 Queensland councils ranked on a like-for-like basis, the minimum residential general rate rose between 4% and 11.7%, averaging about 7%. Sunshine Coast Council raised the most, at 11.7%, followed by Mackay at 10.4%. Cairns Regional raised the least, at 4%.
Key statistics
- Increase range
- 4% – 11.7%
- Average increase
- ~7%
- Highest riser
- Sunshine Coast, +11.7%
- Biggest metro riser
- Sunshine Coast, +11.7%
- Councils covered
- 20 QLD (10 ranked)
Methodology
Every figure is the minimum residential general rate for an owner-occupied principal place of residence (the lowest land-value band), sourced directly from each council's 2025-26 and 2026-27 revenue statements and adopted budgets. Waste charges, levies and separate charges are excluded. Redland City and Lockyer Valley are shown separately rather than ranked. Redland's published rise applies to a median-valued home rather than to the minimum, and Lockyer Valley restructured its residential rating categories for 2026-27, so a year-on-year percentage would cross that change rather than measure a rate rise.
The short version
- Across 10 councils ranked on a like-for-like basis, the minimum residential rate rose 4% to 11.7%, averaging about 7%
- Sunshine Coast raised the most, up 11.7% ($1,586 to $1,771), then Mackay (10.4%) and Townsville (7.2%)
- Cairns Regional raised the least at 4%, from $1,121 to $1,166, a rise of $45 a year
- Sunshine Coast and Mackay sit at the top of the larger councils; Gold Coast, Ipswich and Cairns held rises under 5.5%
- All 22 Queensland councils are covered and 10 are ranked. Lockyer Valley and Redland City are shown separately, both because their 2026-27 figures sit on a changed category basis that a year-on-year percentage would cross
2026-27 vs 2025-26, ranked by increase
Every figure below is the minimum general rate for an owner-occupied residential property (a principal place of residence in the lowest land-value band). It is the fairest cross-council comparison because it does not depend on each suburb's land values.
| Rank | Council | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | Change | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunshine Coast | $1,586 | $1,771 | +$185 | +11.7% |
| 2 | Mackay Regional | $1,328 | $1,466 | +$138 | +10.4% |
| 3 | Townsville City | $1,253 | $1,343 | +$90 | +7.2% |
| 4 | Toowoomba Regional | $1,351 | $1,444 | +$93 | +6.9% |
| 5 | Noosa | $1,451 | $1,540 | +$89 | +6.1% |
| 6 | Somerset Regional | $1,211 | $1,284 | +$73 | +6.0% |
| 7 | Scenic Rim Regional | $1,300 | $1,376 | +$76 | +5.8% |
| 8 | Ipswich City | $1,231 | $1,298 | +$67 | +5.4% |
| 9 | City of Gold Coast | $1,298 | $1,359 | +$61 | +4.7% |
| 10 | Cairns Regional | $1,121 | $1,166 | +$45 | +4% |
That's your council's rates. Now see what a home in your suburb costs to run each year →
The spread is wider than a single "council rates went up" headline suggests. A Sunshine Coast household on the minimum rate pays $185 more this year and a Mackay household $138 more, while a Cairns household pays $45 more. Over a decade, an 11.7% rise compounding against a 4% one adds up to thousands more in rates on the minimum alone.
Rates are only one line in the running cost
Council rates are only one of the running costs of a home. Across Queensland suburbs, the average annual commute costs roughly $7,542 and insurance roughly $3,537, both well above the average minimum rates bill of about $1,439. Rates also move less between suburbs than commute or insurance do, since a single council usually charges the same minimum rate across every suburb it covers, while commute and insurance vary suburb by suburb. See the full annual running cost for any Queensland suburb, not just the rates line.
Who raised the most, and why it clusters
Correction, 20 October 2026. An earlier version of this page put Somerset Regional Council's rise at 20.8% and ranked it first. The prior-year figure behind that was wrong. The council's own budget documents set its owner-occupied minimum at $1,211.48 for 2025-26 and $1,284 for 2026-27, a 6.0% rise, which matches the 6% general rate increase the council announced. Somerset now ranks sixth.
The growth corridors led among the larger councils. Sunshine Coast and Mackay posted the largest rises, at 11.7% and 10.4%. Rapid population growth pushes up the cost of the services councils fund from rates, and both have leaned on the general rate rather than borrowing to cover it.
The established councils held the line. Cairns Regional (4%), the Gold Coast (4.7%) and Ipswich City (5.4%) kept rises close to inflation. Larger, mature rate bases give these councils more room to spread costs without a steep percentage jump.
Regional results split. Mackay (10.4%) ran well above Cairns (4%), with Townsville (7.2%) and Toowoomba (6.9%) between them, so there is no single "regional" number. Local budget pressures, not geography, set the rate.
The five councils shown separately
Five councils sit outside the ranking above. Their 2026-27 figures are correct, but in each case a year-on-year percentage would compare figures that are not on the same basis, which would measure the change in basis rather than a rate rise.
Brisbane City, Logan City and City of Moreton Bay were corrected in September 2026 after their own rating resolutions were read directly. Brisbane City's minimum general rate for category 1, Residential: Owner Occupied, is $949.64 at 0.2134 cents in the dollar. Logan City's category 2A is $1,698.68 at 0.3931 cents. City of Moreton Bay's category R1 is $1,308.60 at 0.3396 cents, with increases capped at 15%. The prior-year figures previously held for these three were recorded on a different basis, so no percentage is shown until 2025-26 minimums are read from the same documents.
Brisbane's figure looks low against the others because its land values are high enough that the minimum rarely binds. Most Brisbane owner-occupiers pay the rate in the dollar on their land value rather than this floor.
Lockyer Valley charges $1,395 as its 2026-27 minimum for an owner-occupied principal place of residence, adopted on 20 July 2026 by resolution 24-28/0625, carried 7 to 0. The council merged its separate rural and urban residential categories that year and moved the valuation band from $125,000 to $195,000, so the two 2025-26 minimums, $1,301 urban and $1,294 rural, both fall into one new category. The council's own published figure is a 4.24% increase in the yield from general rates across all residential categories. That is total revenue rather than the charge on any single property, so it is not comparable with the minimum-rate rises ranked above. Lockyer also notes that some properties see a reduction and others an increase depending on valuation, that the new structure is phased in over two years, and that three-year averaged valuations moved 19.43%.
Redland City's 2026-27 owner-occupied minimum is $1,436, and the council's own published increase of 5.47% ($85.30 a year) is for a median-valued home rather than the minimum, so it is not comparable either. Ipswich, previously set aside, is ranked 8th at 5.4% on the corrected owner-occupied residential minimum, consistent with every other council.
Where every Queensland council stands
All 22 Queensland councils in SuburbCost's coverage are on 2026-27 figures. Ten are ranked above on a like-for-like owner-occupied minimum basis, which is every council for which we hold a comparable prior-year minimum on the same category basis. Brisbane City, Logan City, City of Moreton Bay, Redland City and Lockyer Valley are shown separately. We re-verify council rate data every July as budgets land.
Queensland publishes a minimum general rate, which is a floor. Other states publish something different again. Victoria's figures are an average residential rate from each council's budget, and the two cannot be ranked against each other.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Queensland council rates rise in 2026-27?
Across the 10 councils ranked on a like-for-like basis, the minimum residential general rate rose between 4% and 11.7%, averaging about 7%. In dollars that is roughly $45 to $185 a year on the minimum rate.
Which Queensland council raised rates the most?
Sunshine Coast, up 11.7% ($1,586 to $1,771), then Mackay (10.4%) and Townsville (7.2%). Cairns rose least, at 4%.
Which raised the least?
Of the 10 councils ranked here, Cairns Regional increased the least, up 4% from $1,121 to $1,166, a rise of $45 a year. The Gold Coast was next at 4.7% and Ipswich City at 5.4%.
What is the minimum general rate?
It is the floor a council charges an owner-occupied residential property regardless of land value. Higher-value properties pay more via a rate in the dollar. Comparing the minimum gives a like-for-like baseline across councils because it does not depend on each suburb's land values.
See the rates for your own suburb
SuburbCost shows the council rate for every Queensland and New South Wales suburb, alongside water, commute, insurance and estimated electricity, so you can see the full annual running cost, not just the rates line.
Compare suburbs side by side →Or see your council's full breakdown at Council rates by area, or estimate your total in the cost of living calculator.
Data sources
Council rates: individual Queensland council 2025-26 and 2026-27 revenue statements and adopted budgets. Each figure is the minimum general rate for the standard owner-occupied residential category (principal place of residence, lowest land-value band). Cairns and Gold Coast figures are drawn from the councils' stated general-rate rise and revenue-statement minimums respectively. Ipswich's minimum is confirmed from its 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 budgets ($1,173, $1,231, $1,298). Lockyer Valley's 2026-27 minimum of $1,395 comes from its 2026-27 Revenue Statement, adopted at a Special Meeting of Council on 20 July 2026, resolution 24-28/0625, carried 7 to 0. It is not ranked because that statement merges the previously separate rural and urban residential categories and moves the valuation band from $125,000 to $195,000. The council's own stated change is a 4.24% increase in general rate yield across all residential categories, which measures total revenue rather than the minimum charge. Redland City's 5.47% figure is the council's own stated increase for a median-valued owner-occupied home, not the minimum. Data period: council rates 2026-27 for all 22 councils, updated July 2026.
Cite this data
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The council-level figures behind this study are also published as a free CSV. Download the council running cost dataset, released under CC BY 4.0.