A year of rapid suburban expansion has propelled Queensland’s fastest-growing city beyond another major population milestone, with growth accelerating at a pace not seen anywhere else in the state.
Mayor Teresa Harding confirmed that as of 1 January 2026, the city’s population had reached 270,624 residents, representing an increase of almost 10,000 people in just 12 months and a remarkable rise of 30,000 over the past four years.
“The city isn’t just growing — it’s accelerating,” Mayor Harding said.
“After that initial 12-month jump, we have seen our population increase annually by approximately 8,000 to 9,000 people. We used to say we added a town the size of Beaudesert each year — now it’s more like an extra Innisfail joining our wonderful community.
“People are choosing to live, work and play here from right across Queensland, from Beaudesert to Innisfail, and from across Australia and the world. We have also welcomed 300 new international migrants who have become Australian citizens and now call our city home.”
Mayor Harding said the most dramatic population growth continued to occur in Springfield, Spring Mountain, Springfield Central, Springfield Lakes, Ripley and South Ripley.
“On 1 January 2022, the greater Springfield region had 33,333 residents, and today that figure has grown to 38,415,” she said.
“Ripley and South Ripley have experienced extraordinary change, increasing from 10,183 residents to almost double that number — 19,389 — in just four years.”
While celebrating the city’s success, Mayor Harding said rapid growth also brought significant challenges.
“We love our growing city, but it comes at a cost,” she said. “Greater state and federal investment is essential to help council deliver the housing, roads and community infrastructure needed to support our expanding population.”
Infrastructure, Planning and Assets Committee Chairperson Councillor Andrew Antoniolli said council’s latest quarterly data showed sustained growth across the city.
“Our boom suburbs — including Spring Mountain, Springfield Lakes, Ripley and South Ripley, White Rock, Deebing Heights and Redbank Plains — continue to be the fastest-growing areas,” Cr Antoniolli said.
He said total dwellings across the region were now just short of six figures, with 98,313 homes city-wide, including more than 12,000 in the Greater Springfield area alone.
Cr Antoniolli said council was focused on supporting housing availability and affordability across South East Queensland as the city continued to expand.
“We are on track to become a city of 530,000 people within 20 years, which will require another 100,000 homes,” he said.
“This reinforces the importance of strong partnerships with other levels of government to deliver improved transport infrastructure for our growing communities.”
He said urgent commitments were needed to upgrade the Cunningham and Centenary highways and to deliver a public transport corridor linking Springfield Central and Ipswich Central, particularly as development in the Ripley Valley Priority Development Area continued to accelerate.
Council’s Planning and Regulatory Services report for the period from 1 October to 31 December 2025 highlighted the scale of activity required to manage the city’s growth, recording 2,439 new residents, 877 new dwellings and 725 new lots created during the quarter, alongside hundreds of development assessments, health inspections, community immunisations and significant additions to local roads, pathways and bikeways.
