Is Gold Coast safe?
Australia · Oceania · data updated 2026-09-04
Gold Coast is a city in Australia, home to about 299k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 1,828 of 6,168, with a safety score of 80.6 out of 100 - among the safest cities in this dataset.
Emergency 000 (ambulance, fire, police)
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Australia are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Gold Coast really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Gold Coast recorded 1.0 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2016 - well below the global city median. Australia's income inequality is middling (Gini 33.8) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Australia at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2025-05-29). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Australia without any avoid-travel warning in force. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Australia
Terrorism in Australia · Protecting your belongings · Scams · Personal ID · Smoking and e-cigarette laws · Alcohol · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · Mobile phones · Working holidays · Swimming safety · Diving and snorkelling safety · Dangerous wildlife · Walking and hiking · +11 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Australia — country-level, not specific to Gold Coast. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 1.0 /100kcity-measured, 2016
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 33.8country, 2020
- Human development
- HDI 0.958country, 2023
- Income
- $69,930/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 299kurban centre · 1,707/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 4.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 79/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 82/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 76/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 2.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.90Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 6.4 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 4.1 doctors /1k3.8 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in Australia
- Drought
- 5.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 5.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 5.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 4.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Australia as a whole, not Gold Coast specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Australia (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Australia; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Gold Coast that gives 80.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Gold Coast compared with Brisbane
| Measure | Gold Coast | Brisbane | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 80.6 | 83.1 | −2.5 — better for Brisbane |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 1.0 /100k | 0.7 /100k | +0.3 /100k — better for Brisbane |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Australia, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Brisbane →
Nearby cities
- Brisbane 83.1
- North Lakes 83.1
- Newcastle 83.1
- Sydney 87.1
- Wollongong 81.1
- Canberra 85.5
- Dallas 91.9
- Melbourne 91.9
See Gold Coast on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Oceania → · Full travel briefings →