Mackay suburbs people moved to from the city

Blacks Beach tops the ranking: 6.8% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Brisbane. Mackay and Rural View follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 16 eligible Mackay suburbs.

This page ranks Mackay suburbs by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify.

These are the places people from the capitals moved to between 2016 and 2021, and each row names the capital most of them came from. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it, so a suburb near the top is not necessarily growing. Not every move is a sea change or a tree change: mining towns and Defence bases rank high because jobs bring people there. The Central Coast is part of Greater Sydney in the ABS geography; we count it as a place of its own, so moves from the Central Coast are not moves from Sydney. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder.

Mackay suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city

Ranked by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census, among suburbs outside the capitals with at least 1,000 residents. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it.

1

Blacks Beach

QLD 4740 · 4,153 residents

6.8% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 257 residents

C 100.0
2

Mackay

QLD 4740 · 4,026 residents

6.4% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 248 residents

D 93.3
3

Rural View

QLD 4740 · 5,657 residents

5.8% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 302 residents

A 86.7
4

Shoal Point

QLD 4750 · 1,104 residents

5.6% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 59 residents

B 80.0
5

Bucasia

QLD 4750 · 4,915 residents

5.4% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 247 residents

B 73.3
6

Eimeo

QLD 4740 · 3,285 residents

5.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 164 residents

B 66.7
7

East Mackay

QLD 4740 · 3,725 residents

4.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 153 residents

B 60.0
8

Glenella

QLD 4740 · 4,545 residents

4.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 177 residents

B 53.3
9

West Mackay

QLD 4740 · 6,536 residents

3.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 239 residents

B 46.7
10

South Mackay

QLD 4740 · 6,918 residents

3.8% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 245 residents

C 40.0
11

Andergrove

QLD 4740 · 9,924 residents

3.7% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 349 residents

C 33.3
12

North Mackay

QLD 4740 · 6,194 residents

3.6% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 212 residents

C 26.7
13

Mount Pleasant

QLD 4740 · 4,694 residents

3.6% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 160 residents

A 20.0
14

Ooralea

QLD 4740 · 3,691 residents

3.5% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 121 residents

B 13.3
15

Slade Point

QLD 4740 · 3,450 residents

3.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 108 residents

C 6.7

Ranked from 16 qualifying suburbs.

How we ranked these

100% share of residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census, percentile-ranked within Mackay's candidate pool. Suburbs that touch a capital's statistical area are not ranked, because the count for their own area includes people who never moved. The Central Coast counts as a place of its own, not as Sydney. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify, and the larger number of arrivals breaks ties. It counts arrivals, not net migration. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder; the ABS adjusts small counts slightly to protect privacy. See how we calculate for the full methodology.

Common questions about this ranking

What are the mackay suburbs people moved to from the city?

Blacks Beach tops the ranking: 6.8% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Brisbane. Mackay and Rural View follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 16 eligible Mackay suburbs.

How is this ranking put together?

Each Mackay suburb is ranked by the share of its residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are included.

Does this show where people are leaving?

No. It counts people who arrived from a capital, not people who left the suburb. A place near the top can have lost as many residents as it gained, so it is not a measure of growth.

Why are some suburbs near a capital missing?

A suburb that touches a capital's statistical area is left out: the Census count for its own area includes people who never moved, so a share would overstate the arrivals.

How current is it?

It covers moves between August 2016 and August 2021, from the 2021 Census, the most recent available until results from the August 2026 Census are released in 2027.

Same list in other cities

Related

Rankings last computed 28 September 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.

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