Mount Isa, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Mount Isa is an outback mining city in north-west Queensland, straddling the Leichhardt River about 900 kilometres west of Townsville and more than 1,800 kilometres from Brisbane by road. It lies on the traditional land of the Kalkadoon people, whose language was Kalkatunga. The settlement dates to 1923, when prospector John Campbell Miles found rich mineral deposits and named his claim after the Mount Ida goldfields in Western Australia. Mount Isa Mines grew into one of the most productive operations in world history, yielding silver, lead, copper and zinc, and the city remains heavily dependent on mining. Mount Isa also bills itself as the rodeo capital of Australia, hosting one of the country's largest annual rodeos.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Mount Isa is more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1109, 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 Mount Isa 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.
Very strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Mount Isa 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
96/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (96/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
83/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $175 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 83% 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.
Mount Isa at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 172
- Median age
- 35
- Median weekly household income
- $4,727
- SEIFA score
- 1109
- Local government area
- Mount Isa
- Coordinates
- -20.4949, 139.4077
Map of Mount Isa
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Mount Isa
What it costs to live in Mount Isa and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $175
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,250
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 28%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 20%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Mount Isa demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Mount Isa demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Mount Isa 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 young adults (25–44) at 34% and 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 55 | 32% |
| Youth (15–24) | 15 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 58 | 34% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 39 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 6 | 3% |
Share of the 173 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 7 | 13% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 8 | 15% |
| Rented | 11 | 20% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 45 | 83% |
| Townhouses & semis | 4 | 7% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 54 occupied private dwellings in Mount Isa.
- Average household size
- 3.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $4,812
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,812
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 24 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 12 (7%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 8 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 81 (69%)
- Labour-force participation
- 79.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.2%
- Employed full-time
- 73
- Employed part-time
- 12
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.
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Common questions about Mount Isa
Is Mount Isa 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, Mount Isa rates 92/100 overall (Very strong 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 Mount Isa?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Mount Isa was $175, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,250. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Mount Isa?
Mount Isa is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Mount Isa local government area.
What is the population of Mount Isa?
At the 2021 Census, Mount Isa had a population of about 172.
Is Mount Isa an advantaged area?
Mount Isa has an ABS SEIFA score of 1109, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 96 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
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