EquitySight.app
Free full calculator →
EquitySight.app
Free full calculator →
ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
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.
South Mackay has a solid income profile that supports reliable occupancy rates. The coastal setting provides a lifestyle factor that underpins property values.
Official Australia Post postcode for South Mackay. 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 2 schools within or near this suburb.
Find schools near South Mackay on My School →Estimated 3 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.
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. Rent of $290/week (84% coverage of the $1,500/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $243/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. South Mackay is 802 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 20% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
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) | $290 | $385 | -25% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,500 | $1,733 | -13% |
| Distance to CBD | 802 km | 62 km | +1194% |
| Separate houses | 67% | 77% | -10pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for South Mackay — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
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: rent of $290/week covers 84% of a $1,500/month mortgage, leaving a $243/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
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.
Run the numbers on a South Mackay property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →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. Rental coverage runs at ~84% of the typical mortgage ($1,257/month rent vs $1,500/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 52/100 places South Mackay in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.
Lived in South Mackay? Help other investors with an honest 100-word review. Sign-in required; all reviews are manually moderated before they appear.
South Mackay scores 52/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 6,918, median household income of $76,804/year and median weekly rent of $290. 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 South Mackay are a median household income of $76,804/year, a dwelling mix that is 67% separate houses, roughly 2 schools and 3 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.
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.
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.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $290 in South Mackay, equating to approximately $15,080/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 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.
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.
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.
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.