Suburb overview
South Mackay is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 6,918, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 802 km from the Brisbane CBD, South Mackay is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $76,804 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
4740
Postcode for South Mackay, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
6,918
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$510/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
802 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,500/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
67% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in South Mackay
- Regional location about 802 km from Brisbane.
- Beach lifestyle with coastal walks and outdoor recreation on the doorstep.
Who South Mackay suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Mortgage costs are lower than the Queensland median, improving cash-flow margins.
- Coastal lifestyle attracts renters and owner-occupiers alike.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (802 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment insight
South Mackay's population of 6,918 sits 26% above the Queensland suburb median of 5,474, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average QLD locality. Household income of $76,804/year is 15% below the Queensland median of $90,298, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Median rent of $510/week (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)) equates to roughly $2,210/month — about 147% of the $1,500/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census. On those figures rental income covers most or all of the recorded repayment, but repayments on new loans have risen with interest rates since 2021, so re-run the coverage at today's rates before treating this as a cash-flow suburb. South Mackay is 802 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment tip
Coastal markets benefit from lifestyle appeal but require a buffer for higher insurance and occasional weather-driven vacancies. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 20% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
South Mackay vs Queensland median
How South Mackay stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean South Mackay sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | South Mackay | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 6,918 | 5,474 | +26% |
| Median household income | $76,804/yr | $90,298/yr | -15% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $290 | $385 | -25% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,500 | $1,733 | -13% |
| Distance to CBD | 802 km | 62 km | +1194% |
| Separate houses | 67% | 77% | -10pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for South Mackay — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 6,918 residents — 126% of the QLD suburb median (5,474).
- Purchasing power: median household income $76,804/year (-15% vs Queensland suburb median of $90,298).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $290/week rent (≈ $1,257/month) covered ~84% of the $1,500/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 802 km straight-line from Brisbane (state suburb median 62 km).
- Dwelling mix: 67% separate houses — mixed market (vs 77% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$150/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,500/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 20% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment strategy
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: South Mackay's 6,918-person market and $76,804 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Moderate rental coverage at the 2021 Census: rent of $290/week covered 84% of a $1,500/month mortgage, a $243/month gap bridged with equity, depreciation and tax benefits. Re-check with current rents and rates before committing.
Only 67% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 77% QLD median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Risk factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,500/month median mortgage in South Mackay means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $150/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Commute distance: at 802 km from the nearest CBD, South Mackay depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in South Mackay regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in South Mackay with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
Run the numbers on a South Mackay property
Walk the journey to a place like South Mackay
Seven guided stops — government schemes compared for your exact numbers, a real budget, suburb shortlisting and every contract deadline tracked. Free, no signup to start.
Start your journey near South Mackay →2026 outlook
Capital-growth expectations for South Mackay are modest for 2026 — incomes 15% below the QLD median of $90,298 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~84% of the typical mortgage ($1,257/month rent vs $1,500/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for South Mackay is balanced heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Queensland median.
Frequently asked questions
Is South Mackay a good suburb for investment?
Whether South Mackay suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 6,918, a median household income of $76,804/year and median weekly rent of $290. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in South Mackay?
The main demand drivers in South Mackay are a median household income of $76,804/year, a dwelling mix that is 67% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of South Mackay?
South Mackay has a usual resident population of approximately 6,918, 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.
How far is South Mackay from the Brisbane CBD?
South Mackay sits 802 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.
What is the median rent in South Mackay?
The median weekly rent in South Mackay is $510 (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)), equating to approximately $26,520/year in gross rental income. Confirm against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in South Mackay?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in South Mackay is $1,500, or approximately $18,000/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.
Is South Mackay cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $290 works out to $1,257/month, covering 84% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,500/month. That leaves a $243/month shortfall (around $2,916/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.
What are the main risks of investing in South Mackay?
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,500 median mortgage, the broader Queensland market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
How we built this South Mackay profile
The population figure on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census. The postcode comes from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. The dwelling mix is from the ABS 2021 Census. The median household income is the ABS 2021 Census median weekly household income, annualised. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage figures are 2021 figures and are labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. The current median weekly rent in Key indicators is a genuine recent figure from Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (Mar 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.