QLD · Cairns Council

Macalister Range, 4871

  • Holiday parks
  • Leafy
  • Rural living
What Macalister Range is known for: Holiday parks, Leafy, Rural living

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Macalister Range, QLD suburb snapshot — Suburb Guide

Cite this suburb snapshot

Suburb Guide, “Macalister Range, QLD Suburb Guide”, updated 1 October 2026, https://suburb.guide/qld/macalister-range

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Suburb profile

Macalister Range is a rural locality in Queensland, in Cairns Council.

Local amenities is an exceptional strength, well above typical levels for rural localities. Green cover is a relative strength. Employment is a relative weakness, with employment 100% below the peer median.

Overall, the suburb suits people prioritising local amenities over employment.

Generated from the official metrics on this page. It can omit nuance or contain errors — check the tables and source notes before relying on it.

Strengths and weaknesses

Rural locality · compared with rural localities in Queensland (1448)

Strengths

  • Green cover is a relative strength
  • Local amenity access is stronger than in most comparable places

Weaknesses

  • Employment is a relative weakness

What stands out

Nothing distinctive beyond the usual profile.

Housing, growth and risk

How Macalister Range compares

A quick read of housing, growth, livability, and risk

Median house price

—

No data available

Median rent

—

No data available

Population (ERP)

—

No data available

Dwelling vacancy

—

No data available

How it compares

Relative standing using percentiles, ranks, and national deciles

Crime rate

47th

percentile in state (higher = more crime)

Risks & flags

Quick scan — open a section below for full context

Living here

Population

2021 Census figures

2021 Census

Population
0
Median age
75
Median household income / week
$725
Unoccupied private dwellings
0 of 0
Median monthly mortgage
$0
Employment rate
0%
Dwelling mix (houses / semi / flats)
0 / 0 / 0

Contributes to desirability score · Community (12%) · Accessibility (12%) · Future Growth (6%)

Employment, household income and owned-outright tenure (2021 Census) Work-from-home and public-transport commute shares (2021 Census) Five-year population change as a healthy-growth band, not a boom bonus

Data sources & freshness

  • 2021 Census — General Community Profile (including method of travel to work and educational attainment) — Australian Bureau of Statistics · Updated

    The 2026 Census was conducted in August 2026; suburb-level updates are expected from mid-2027.

  • Estimated Resident Population — Australian Bureau of Statistics · 2025 · Updated · SA2 ERP allocated to suburb boundaries

Tax & income

Median taxable income (2023–24)
$46,529

24th percentile in QLD · -21% vs Australia

Median salary / wages (2023–24)
$52,927

18th percentile in QLD · -19% vs Australia

Residents with rental investments
10.0%

37th percentile in QLD · -27% vs Australia

Median super balance (2023–24)
$43,133

13th percentile in QLD · -32% vs Australia

Residents with business income
11.0%

59th percentile in QLD · +6% vs Australia

Australian Taxation Office Taxation Statistics 2023–24, individuals Table 25. Figures describe taxpayers who live in postcode 4871 — not a suburb-level official statistic. Rental investment is the share of local taxpayers reporting rental income or loss, not the share of local properties owned by investors.

Counts, net rent & state comparison
Taxpayers in this postcode
6,088
Taxpayers reporting net rent
605
Median net rent
$2,087
Taxpayers reporting business income
690
Taxable income vs state median
-16%
Salary / wages vs state median
-13%
Rental investment vs state median
-9%
Super vs state median
-38%
Business income vs state median
+10%

Percentiles rank this postcode among unique postcodes in QLD, so suburbs that share a postcode are not counted twice. Dollar figures are compared with Australia-wide ATO medians from the same release. Median net rent is among taxpayers who reported the rent label and can be negative.

Data sources & freshness

  • Taxation Statistics 2023–24 — individuals by postcode (Table 25) — Australian Taxation Office · Updated · Annual release; taxpayer residential postcode, not suburb boundary

Community & culture

No 2021 Census cultural diversity data for this suburb yet.

Data sources & freshness

  • 2021 Census — General Community Profile (including method of travel to work and educational attainment) — Australian Bureau of Statistics · Updated

    The 2026 Census was conducted in August 2026; suburb-level updates are expected from mid-2027.

Crime & safety

Offence counts are estimated for this suburb from postcode 4871, which is shared with other suburbs.

Reported offences are running higher than the same point last year.

Offence counts & rates
Total offences (Jan 2026 to Sep 2026)
375
Against the person
119
Against property
95
Rate per 1,000 residents (annualised)
68.5
State crime-rate percentile
47.2th (higher = more crime)
Increase (daily rate, partial year)
+23.8%

Most common offence types

  • Assault86
  • Drug Offences37
  • Liquor (Excl. Drunkenness)40
  • Other Property Damage36
  • Traffic And Related Offences59

Contributes to desirability score · Safety (22%)

Crime rate, offences against the person, year-on-year trend and recorded road crash rates

Data sources & freshness

  • QPS Online Crime Map — Queensland Police Service · Jan 2025 to Dec 2025 → Jan 2026 to Sep 2026; Jan 2026 to Sep 2026 · Updated · Calendar-year aggregates

Family & Lifestyle

Schools & preschools

School list
School catchments
  • Caravonica SSGovernment school catchment overlapping this suburb boundaryprimary_catchment
  • Kuranda District State CollegeGovernment school catchment overlapping this suburb boundaryprimary_catchment
  • Tropical North Learning Academy - Smithfield SHSGovernment school catchment overlapping this suburb boundarysecondary_catchment
  • Tropical North Learning Academy - Trinity Beach SSGovernment school catchment overlapping this suburb boundaryprimary_catchment

Government school intake zones that overlap this suburb boundary. Living in a catchment does not guarantee enrolment; check the education authority.

Contributes to desirability score · Education (14%)

Median school ICSEA first, then school and catchment counts

Data sources & freshness

Amenities

4 mapped amenities

2 caravan parks

Local character & venue list

Local character

  • Limited walkable amenities nearby
Walkability proxy
0/100
Sport & outdoors(1)
  • Wangetti TrailCycling route
Camping & holiday parks(2)
  • Buchan PointCaravan park
  • Buchan Point 2Caravan park
Entertainment(1)
  • Viewpoint

Names and addresses from OpenStreetMap. Unnamed venues show as their type (e.g. Cafe). Transport stops are summarised by type rather than listed individually. Campgrounds, beaches, wineries and local trails are included when they sit inside the suburb boundary.

Contributes to desirability score · Lifestyle (12%)

Food, shopping, recreation and sport per 1,000 residents (OpenStreetMap)

Data sources & freshness

  • Local amenity insights — Suburb Guide (derived) · current · Updated
  • OpenStreetMap amenities — OpenStreetMap contributors · current · Updated

Green cover

Green cover of suburb area
62.3%
Woodland / forest cover
62.3%
Parks & woodland features (OSM)
1
Parks (OSM)
0
Typical summer maximum
31°C

Green cover is the share of this suburb's boundary overlapping OpenStreetMap parks, woodland and forest polygons — not a satellite tree-canopy product. Summer maximum is the WorldClim / Open-Meteo seasonal normal already collected for Weather.

Contributes to desirability score · Environment (12%)

Tree canopy first, then green-cover area and parks per 1,000

Data sources & freshness

  • OpenStreetMap green cover and tree canopy — OpenStreetMap contributors · current · Updated · Park/woodland polygons intersected with suburb boundaries

Health access

Nearest hospital
Cairns North Community Health Facility (17.4 km)
Nearest hospital type
Hospital
Nearest hospital emergency
Emergency department
GP clinics in suburb
0

GP clinic counts from OpenStreetMap. Bulk-billing figures only include clinics tagged in OSM (sparse and unofficial — not a Medicare list).

Contributes to desirability score · Accessibility (12%)

Hospitals, GPs and aged care

Data sources & freshness

NDIS participation

NDIS participants (31 March 2026)
152
Participants per 1,000 residents
20.7

Active NDIS participants allocated from NDIA Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2, ASGS 2016) counts to this suburb boundary. Not an official suburb-level NDIS figure · as at 31 March 2026.

For NDIS spend and service-demand exploration by SA2 or postcode, see the Care Sector Demand Map.

Data sources & freshness

Weather

Typical conditions by season for suburbs in the same ~44 km climate area. Rainfall totals are summed from monthly WorldClim layers; rainy-day counts are approximate.

Summer (Dec–Feb)

Usual max / min
31° / 25°
Rainfall
1,038 mm · ~90 rainy days

Autumn (Mar–May)

Usual max / min
29° / 24°
Rainfall
925 mm · ~92 rainy days

Winter (Jun–Aug)

Usual max / min
25° / 20°
Rainfall
164 mm · ~20 rainy days

Spring (Sep–Nov)

Usual max / min
28° / 22°
Rainfall
188 mm · ~24 rainy days

Contributes to desirability score · Lifestyle (12%)

Temperature and humidity comfort

Data sources & freshness

  • Seasonal climate normals — WorldClim 2.1 · Updated

Future & Planning

Roadworks & transport

2 active roadworks / incidents

  • Hairpin to Streets CreekKennedy Highway28 Sep 2026 – 31 Dec 2026
  • Saddle Mountain Rd to Hairpin Kuranda RangeKennedy Highway04 Jan 2025 – 31 Dec 2026

Data sources & freshness

  • Road incidents & closures — State road authority open-data feeds · current · Updated

Hazards

Bushfire planning zone
No overlay at centroid
Flood / inundation overlay
No mapped inundation on suburb boundary

Bushfire overlay checked at suburb centroid via Queensland Bushfire Prone Area mapping. Flood cover uses floodplain overlay polygons against the suburb boundary where published.

Contributes to desirability score · Safety (22%)

Bushfire and flood hazard overlays

Data sources & freshness

  • Bushfire and flood planning overlays — State government hazard layers · current · Updated

Politics & representation

Federal electorate
Leichhardt
Member of Parliament
Matt SMITH (Australian Labor Party)
Results from
2025 federal election
Electorate enrolment (2025)
122,757
Turnout (2025)
83.0%
Swing since 2022 (2025)
+9.5 pp toward Labor

Two-party preferred (2025)

Coalition 43.9%Labor 56.1%

Estimated suburb voting profile

Estimated from 8 nearby ordinary polling places (up to 8.1 km away).

Coalition 46.4%Labor 53.6%

2.4 percentage points more Coalition-leaning than the electorate

Estimated swing since 2022: +8.5 pp toward Labor

Nearest polling places

  • Clifton BeachLabor 48.9% · Coalition 51.1% TPP (2025)2.3 km away
  • Kewarra BeachLabor 51.8% · Coalition 48.2% TPP (2025)3.2 km away
  • Trinity BeachLabor 57.9% · Coalition 42.1% TPP (2025)4.1 km away
  • Palm CoveLabor 50.0% · Coalition 50.0% TPP (2025)4.3 km away
  • KurandaLabor 62.6% · Coalition 37.4% TPP (2025)5.1 km away

Federal electorate from AEC federal division boundaries (2025 redistribution). Division-level results are official AEC figures from the latest general election, with by-election updates where applicable. The estimated suburb profile blends up to eight nearest ordinary polling booths in the same electorate using inverse-distance weighting from the suburb centroid — an approximation, not official AEC data. Nearest polling places are shown for reference.

Data sources & freshness

More in Cairns Council

Other suburbs in the same local government area.