Mooloolaba had 8,202 residents at the 2021 Census, according to the ABS. Of its 4,678 private dwellings, 19.8% were unoccupied on Census night, against 9.3% for Queensland, and 41.5% of occupied homes were rented. Flats and apartments made up 47.6% of dwellings. Buderim, just inland, recorded 6.0% unoccupied. Sunshine Coast Council describes the Mooloolaba foreshore as one of the region's most important tourism destinations.
The water is part of the picture too. Council classifies both the Mooloolaba canals and the Minyama-Buddina canals as mostly sandy canals, fully tidal and not connected to weirs or locks, and its residents' handbook names the Mooloolah River and its canal system as a tidal waterway. Council also states that the dominant wind here is south-easterly. The Galvanizers Association of Australia, citing AS 4312, places sites within 200m of surf beaches in the most severe atmospheric corrosivity category, and notes prevailing winds can extend that exposure inland.