Maleny, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Maleny crowns the Blackall Range in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, roughly 450 metres up and around 90 kilometres north of Brisbane, with long views toward the Glass House Mountains. The district lies on the country of the Nalbo and Dallambara, peoples of the Gubbi Gubbi language group. The town's name is thought to have come, by way of a parish name, from the Scottish estate of Malleny. Cleared first for timber and then for dairying, Maleny opened its butter factory in 1904 and grew into a noted dairy district. Today it is known for its cheese, its galleries and its co-operative spirit, and for the rainforest preserved at the nearby Mary Cairncross reserve.
Around the national middle
Maleny is more socio-economically advantaged than about 51% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 990, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Maleny a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Maleny from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
51/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (51/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
21/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $390 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 21% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Maleny at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 3,959
- Median age
- 59
- Median weekly household income
- $1,144
- SEIFA score
- 990
- Local government area
- Sunshine Coast
- Coordinates
- -26.7650, 152.8527
Map of Maleny
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Maleny
What it costs to live in Maleny and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $390
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,625
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 77%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 18%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Maleny demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Maleny demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Maleny using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is seniors (65+) at 40% and 23% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 466 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 271 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 547 | 14% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,104 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,567 | 40% |
Share of the 3,955 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 945 | 55% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 383 | 22% |
| Rented | 312 | 18% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,560 | 92% |
| Townhouses & semis | 111 | 7% |
| Flats & apartments | 23 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,704 occupied private dwellings in Maleny.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,426
- Median weekly personal income
- $618
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 867 (23%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 223 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 71 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,999 (59%)
- Labour-force participation
- 43.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.9%
- Employed full-time
- 607
- Employed part-time
- 655
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Weather and climate in Maleny
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Maleny is January (average daytime high around 27.5°C) and the coolest is July (around 18.5°C). The area receives roughly 1153 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27.5°C | 19°C | 140 mm |
| Feb | 26.9°C | 19°C | 179 mm |
| Mar | 26°C | 18.4°C | 150 mm |
| Apr | 23.1°C | 15.2°C | 70 mm |
| May | 20.6°C | 12.3°C | 90 mm |
| Jun | 18.5°C | 10.1°C | 51 mm |
| Jul | 18.5°C | 9.2°C | 46 mm |
| Aug | 20.2°C | 9.9°C | 36 mm |
| Sep | 22.7°C | 12°C | 45 mm |
| Oct | 24.8°C | 14.4°C | 120 mm |
| Nov | 26.6°C | 16.3°C | 92 mm |
| Dec | 27.6°C | 18°C | 134 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Maleny
Is Maleny a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Maleny rates 41/100 overall (Below the national middle on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Maleny?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Maleny was $390, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,625. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Maleny?
Maleny is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Sunshine Coast local government area.
What is the population of Maleny?
At the 2021 Census, Maleny had a population of about 3,959.
Is Maleny an advantaged area?
Maleny has an ABS SEIFA score of 990, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 51 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 51% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Maleny?
Maleny has average daytime highs of about 23.6°C and overnight lows of about 14.5°C, with roughly 1,153 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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