[1] Wacol is bounded to the west by the Brisbane River and to the north loosely by Wolston Creek.

Still intact today the building is the only surviving early Brisbane River settlement.

[3] A portion of Wacol comes from the Wolston Estate, consisting of 54 farms on an area of 3000 acres, offered for auction at Centennial Hall, Brisbane, on 16 October 1901.

[15] The suburb played host to the American military during World War II, who constructed Camp Columbia (27°35′00″S 152°56′13″E / 27.5833°S 152.9369°E / -27.5833; 152.9369 (Camp Columbia)) in 1942; after the war, control of the facility was transferred to the Australian Government which used it as a migrant reception and training centre from 1949 to 1987.

[18] Also, in the post-war period, the suburb increasingly became home to correctional and mental health facilities.

The Brisbane Youth Detention Centre opened in January 2001 as an amgalmation of Sir Leslie Wilson and John Oxley facilities.

[18] In 2007 the Brisbane Correctional Centre opened as a redevelopment of the Sir David Longland facility.

[29] In December 2011, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals moved from their premises in Fairfield to Wacol.

There was a marked over-representation of people aged between 20 and 44 years in Wacol, where they accounted for 68.6% of the population, compared to the national figure of 34.6%.

79.4% of people living in Wacol were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 66.7%; the next most common countries of birth were New Zealand 6.4%, Vietnam 1.9%, England 1.7%, Philippines 0.9%, Samoa 0.5%.

15.8% of people spoke only English at home; the next most popular languages were Vietnamese 1%, Tagalog 0.4%, Spanish 0.3%, Mandarin 0.3% and Italian 0.2%.

[1] Wacol has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Wacol is home for correctional centre inmates at: The Park Centre for Mental Health, formerly known as the Wolston Park Hospital, has acted as an institution for the mentally ill since 1865.

Wacol railway station and Gailes railway station (which, despite its name, is located in Wacol) provides access to regular Queensland Rail City network services to Brisbane, Ipswich and Rosewood via Ipswich.

In the 2011 census, 11.2% of employed people traveled to work on public transport and 66.3% by car (either as driver or as passenger).