This page covers the Mackay suburb only. For all of Mackay, see the Mackay flood map by suburb →
Mackay flood map & planning overlays
113 heritage-listed places, the most in Mackay Regional and 6th in Queensland. The city's old core.
Most lots here are flood-mapped. The free check shows how much of one lot the overlay covers.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Mackay
(Mackay Regional, QLD) - 4.37 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
4.37 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Mackay's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Mackay properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 3,512 analysed Mackay properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 3,512 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Mackay.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Mackay
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
typical observed square 2 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 500 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.
How this is measured
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Mackay at a glance
Schools in and near Mackay
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb; it does not rate schools or assign any individual address to a catchment.
Inside the suburb boundary
1 school providing primary years and 2 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: inside the suburb
Secondary: inside the suburb
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time.
Which school zone is a Mackay address in? Check an address with our free school zone checker.
How Mackay is zoned
Selling in Mackay? The lot-level zone is the zoning Part 3 of Queensland's Form 2 seller disclosure statement asks for - see our Form 2 planning data guide.
Across its 4.37 km², Mackay is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 98% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. There are 113 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Principal centre. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 638 m² across 3,210 parcels.
Who lives in Mackay
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Mackay suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 906, and decile 2 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Mackay's 4,026 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Mackay, the wider ABS statistical area containing Mackay. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Mackay itself.
3,397 in 2001 to 4,154 in 2025, up 22%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Mackay data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Zoning | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
Profile last materially updated 7 November 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Mackay address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
See what's in the $9 report →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Mackay. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Published flood models are held over parts of Mackay. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.
The Terrain Report shows the fall of the block - contours, cross sections and a 3D model of the lot to spin round in your browser (+$9 with the planning report).
Moving here? The Liveability section adds walking times from the address to schools, parks, shops and transport, and the school zones it sits in (+$9 with the planning report).
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Mackay lot.
Mackay planning - frequently asked
Is Mackay flood-prone?
About 98% of Mackay falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 36%. Across the suburb, 100% of the 3,512 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 1 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Mackay; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Mackay bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Mackay and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone (the Mackay Regional average is 26%).
Is Mackay under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Mackay, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 1,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 6 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Mackay?
The dominant planning zone in Mackay is Principal centre, though the suburb also includes Open space and Medium density residential.
Does Mackay have heritage-listed places?
Mackay has 113 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Mackay hilly or flat?
Mackay is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 1%. Ground level runs from roughly 4 m to 8 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Mackay?
Across 3,210 surveyed parcels in Mackay, the median lot size is about 638 m². There are also 324 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Mackay have a train station?
There is no train station inside Mackay itself. The suburb is served by 23 bus stops.
What is the population of Mackay?
At the 2021 Census Mackay had 4,026 usual residents, with a median age of 38 and an average household size of 1.9 people. The wider Mackay statistical area, which contains Mackay, went from 3,397 people in 2001 to 4,154 in 2025, up 22%.
Is Mackay an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Mackay scores 906 and sits in decile 2 of 10 nationally and decile 2 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Mackay?
Median household income in Mackay was $1,239 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,937 for the typical suburb in Mackay Regional. Median rent was $270 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,387 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cremorne | 1.2 km | 100% | 0% |
| East Mackay | 1.8 km | 92% | 1% |
| North Mackay | 2.4 km | 81% | <1% |
| West Mackay | 2.5 km | 74% | 2% |
| South Mackay | 2.6 km | 86% | 3% |
| Mount Pleasant | 3.6 km | 30% | 2% |
| Mackay Harbour | 4.1 km | 70% | 17% |
| Foulden | 4.2 km | 100% | 0% |
| Andergrove | 5.6 km | 72% | 14% |
| Paget | 5.6 km | 81% | 6% |