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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Mareeba is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 11,825, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 1394 km from the Brisbane CBD, Mareeba is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $66,664 per year.
Mareeba's income profile suggests a value-oriented market with competitive purchase prices. Seaside positioning attracts both owner-occupiers and holiday rental demand.
Official Australia Post postcode for Mareeba. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Estimated 3 schools within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Mareeba on My School →Estimated 5 parks and green spaces near this suburb.
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
With 11,825 residents, Mareeba is one of Queensland's more populous suburbs — roughly 2.2× the state median of 5,474 — giving it a deep buyer and tenant pool that typically supports higher transaction volumes and shorter average days on market. Mareeba's median household income of $66,664/year is 26% below the Queensland suburb median ($90,298) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. Rent of $285/week (83% coverage of the $1,495/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $260/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. Mareeba is 1394 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Coastal markets benefit from lifestyle appeal but require a buffer for higher insurance and occasional weather-driven vacancies. Local rents consume roughly 22% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Mareeba stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Mareeba sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Mareeba | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 11,825 | 5,474 | +116% |
| Median household income | $66,664/yr | $90,298/yr | -26% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $285 | $385 | -26% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,495 | $1,733 | -14% |
| Distance to CBD | 1394 km | 62 km | +2148% |
| Separate houses | 81% | 77% | +4pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Mareeba — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: household incomes 26% below the QLD median ($66,664 vs $90,298) means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Queensland market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $285/week covers 83% of a $1,495/month mortgage, leaving a $260/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
With 81% houses in a 11,825-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Run the numbers on a Mareeba property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Mareeba are modest for 2026 — incomes 26% below the QLD median of $90,298 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~83% of the typical mortgage ($1,235/month rent vs $1,495/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 44/100 places Mareeba in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
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Mareeba scores 44/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 11,825, median household income of $66,664/year and median weekly rent of $285. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.
The main demand drivers in Mareeba are a median household income of $66,664/year, a dwelling mix that is 81% separate houses, roughly 3 schools and 5 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.
Mareeba has a usual resident population of approximately 11,825, compared with a Queensland suburb median of 5,474 — placing it in the upper half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
Mareeba sits 1394 km straight-line from the Brisbane CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $285 in Mareeba, equating to approximately $14,820/year in gross rental income (state median $385/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Mareeba is $1,495, or approximately $17,940/year (vs $1,733/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
A median weekly rent of $285 works out to $1,235/month, covering 83% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,495/month. That leaves a $260/month shortfall (around $3,120/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,495 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($66,664 vs $90,298 state median), the broader Queensland market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.