Brisbane's independent schools have no catchments — but bus routes and river crossings still decide your morning. Shortlist your schools, set a travel time and a budget, and see which suburbs fit.

The school directory

Step 1 — shortlist the schools

Step 2 — travel time

25 min

1060 min each way

Step 3 — housing budget

$600k$1.80m$3m

Travel times are indicative morning estimates based on distance to each campus, not live traffic. Median prices and rents are drafted from published 2025 figures.

Suburbs that work

23 matches

Newstead
14 min avg · worst 16 min
Inner East & Riverside · $1.60m median house
BGS 11min · Somerville 16min
Toowong
15 min avg · worst 16 min
The West · $1.70m median house
BGS 16min · Somerville 13min
Ashgrove
16 min avg · worst 17 min
Inner North · $1.75m median house
BGS 14min · Somerville 17min
Norman Park
16 min avg · worst 16 min
Inner East & Riverside · $1.65m median house
BGS 16min · Somerville 16min

Open the full finder

The Brisbane skyline and Story Bridge across the river at dusk

“The river decides your bridges, your schools and your weekends. Choose the side first — the suburb second.”

The essentials, in reading order

01Your first 90 days in Brisbane — a practical checklistLicences, Medicare, utilities, doctors, sport clubs and the small things that make a new city feel like home.02Relocating for work — how executive moves to Brisbane run smoothlyStart dates, temporary housing, school places and the sequencing that keeps a family move from unravelling.03Brisbane 2032 and the building boom — what it means if you're moving nowThe Olympic build, the Victoria Park stadium, housing targets and where the disruption and the upside land.04Buying in Brisbane before you get hereHow interstate and overseas buyers make a good decision without inspecting ten times.05Queenslander or new build? The trade-off nobody explainsCharacter and airflow against warranty and running costs — with the maintenance figures families forget.06Flood, storm and insurance — checking risk street by streetHow to check flood mapping properly, what insurers care about, and why suburb-level advice is useless here.

Real numbers on suburbs, costs and commutes

Three plain-English tools to help you weigh up a Brisbane move before you commit to it.

Suburb comparison

Best suburbs, side by side

Median house prices, weekly rents and the run into the city, filtered by corridor and budget.

Compare suburbs

Hidden costs

What relocating really costs

Build a starting budget for removalists, short-stay accommodation, bond or duty and setting up here.

Work out your budget

Schools and commute

Find your suburb shortlist

Shortlist your schools, set a travel limit and a budget, and see the suburbs that fit all of them.

Open the finder

Should you rent first — or buy?

There isn't one right answer. A short lease inside your chosen corridor buys you information cheaply when work or school is still unconfirmed. When both are locked in, waiting mostly costs money and a second move.

What matters is understanding what each option means for your household — read the full guide, or talk it through with someone local.

Read the full guide The relocation checklist

When you're ready to act

Buyer's agents

Buying your Brisbane property

Home Scouts represents buyers only across Brisbane, Noosa and the Sunshine Coast — assessing value and risk, inspecting on your behalf and negotiating the purchase. Useful when you can't inspect repeatedly or don't yet know local value.

Talk to Home Scouts·Book a call

Relocation support

Executive Relocations

Personal, on-the-ground support — including rental search and inspections attended for you — for executives, professionals and families relocating to Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast.

Executive Relocations

Also from us

Moving to Sunshine Coast

The companion guide to the Coast — Noosa to Caloundra, suburb by suburb, for families weighing the Coast against Brisbane.

Visit the guide

Brisbane answers

We've answered the questions relocating families search for most — best and cheapest suburbs, flooding, school places, transport and the 2032 build.

See all the questions

Where should we live when moving to Brisbane?+

Choose the corridor before the suburb. The inner north and west hold the established character homes and most of the private schools; the inner east is the most walkable; the bayside gives you land and a slower pace; Ipswich and Logan give you the most house for your money. Once the corridor is right, comparing suburbs is straightforward.

Is Brisbane still cheaper than Sydney or Melbourne?+

For housing, yes — but the gap has narrowed sharply. A family home within ten kilometres of the CBD is now commonly $1.3m to $2.5m. Day-to-day living costs, commuting time and childcare pressure remain lower.

Do we need to live near a private school to enrol?+

No. Independent and Catholic schools in Brisbane have no catchments, so you can enrol from anywhere. What matters is the school bus network — living on a route turns the school run into a fifteen minute ride instead of two drives a day.

Should we rent first or buy straight away?+

If work or school is unconfirmed, a short lease inside your chosen corridor buys you information cheaply. If both are locked in, waiting mostly costs money and a second move.

How seriously should we take flood risk?+

Very. It varies street by street, not suburb by suburb. Always ask for the flood overlay, the 2011 and 2022 history, and an insurance quote before you make an offer.