Mackay

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 74,219 people in Mackay of these 51.1% were male and 48.9% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.7% of the population.

The median age of people in Mackay was 35 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 20.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.8% of the population.

Of people in Mackay aged 15 years and over, 48.1% were married and 11.8% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Mackay was 48 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Mackay, of people aged 15 years and over, 48.1% of people were in a registered marriage and 13.2% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Mackay was 48 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 32 years.

In Mackay 28.2% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 31.7% were in primary school, 21.2% in secondary school and 13.4% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Mackay were Australian 30.1%, English 27.3%, Irish 8.1%, Scottish 7.5% and German 4.6%.

In Mackay, 79.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.1%, England 2.4%, South Africa 1.5%, Philippines 1.2% and India 0.4%.

In Mackay, 71.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 17.8% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Mackay were Catholic 28.0%, No Religion 20.0%, Anglican 18.0%, Uniting Church 9.0% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.4%.

In Mackay 88.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Afrikaans 0.8%, Tagalog 0.6%, Filipino 0.4%, Italian 0.3% and German 0.3%.

Employment

There were 39,664 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Mackay. Of these 67.1% were employed full time, 23.1% were employed part-time and 3.8% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Mackay, 8.3% worked 1 to 15 hours, 6.7% worked 16 to 24 hours and 52.9% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Mackay was 39 years and for people who were employed part-time was 39 years.

The most common occupations in Mackay included Technicians and Trades Workers 21.4%, Professionals 14.5%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.5%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 12.2%, Labourers 10.8%, Sales Workers 9.3%, Managers 9.0% and Community and Personal Service Workers 7.7%.

Of the employed people in Mackay, the most common responses for industry of employment included Coal Mining 7.3%, School Education 4.6%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.5%, Hospitals 3.2% and Architectural, Engineering and Technical Services 2.6%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Mackay was $728.

In Mackay, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 67.5%, Car, as passenger 8.1%, Bus 2.5%, Walked only 2.5% and Bicycle 1.4%. On the day, 2.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 75.8% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Mackay, of people aged 15 years and over, 69.5% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 30.0% provided care for children and 8.8% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 15.1% of people did voluntary work through an organisation or a group.

Of people who did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census in Mackay, 26.1% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.2% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.2% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Mackay, 45.6% were couple families with children, 38.2% were couple families without children and 14.8% were one parent families.

In Mackay 18.8% of single parents were male and 81.2% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Mackay, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,538 and those without children was $2,278.

Employment status of couple families

In Mackay, of couple families with children, 25.4% had both partners employed full-time, 2.0% had both employed part-time and 22.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Mackay, 91.6% of private dwellings were occupied and 8.4% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Mackay, 80.6% were separate houses, 7.1% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 10.5% were flats, units or apartments and 1.7% were other dwellings.

In Mackay, of occupied private dwellings 4.3% had 1 bedroom, 16.3% had 2 bedrooms and 44.5% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.1. The average household size was 2.7 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Mackay, 26.8% were owned outright, 35.9% were owned with a mortgage and 33.9% were rented.

Household composition

In Mackay, of all households, 74.3% were family households, 21.5% were single person households and 4.2% were group households.

In Mackay, 18.7% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 16.3% of households had a weekly income of more than $3,000.

Mortgage & rent

Proportions are calculated using all tenure types for occupied private dwellings. This excludes visitor only and other non-classifiable households.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households whose rent payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which are not renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households who own their dwelling, and whose mortgage payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which were renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Number of motor vehicles

In Mackay, 31.4% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 39.3% had two registered motor vehicles and 20.1% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Mackay, there were 3,471 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,711 (or 49.3%) were male and 1,760 (or 50.7%) were female. The median age was 19 years.

Dwelling characteristics

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households. These tables represent occupied private dwellings where at least one Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander person was present.

Average number of people per bedroom includes a miscalculation. For more information see the persons per bedroom correction page.

In Mackay, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.5, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,399.

In Mackay, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $285 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,167.