Port Macquarie, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Port Macquarie sits at the mouth of the Hastings River on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, about 390 kilometres north of Sydney. It lies within Birpai country, and the Birpai people are recognised as the traditional custodians, long knowing the place as Guruk. The explorer John Oxley named the harbour in 1818 after Governor Lachlan Macquarie, and from 1821 it served as a penal settlement for convicts who had reoffended. Today the town trades on its string of surf beaches, the convict-built St Thomas' Anglican Church of the 1820s, and a well-known koala hospital that nurses injured wildlife. The rainforest boardwalk at Sea Acres National Park brings the subtropical coast within easy reach.
Around the national middle
Port Macquarie is more socio-economically advantaged than about 40% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 969, 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 Port Macquarie 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 5 components we can score for Port Macquarie 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
40/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (40/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
23/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $380 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 23% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Amenities & access
55/100Some mapped nearby
About 35 everyday places (cafés, shops, services and more) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. · OpenStreetMap
Green space
90/100A lot of green space nearby
About 39.4% of the area within ~1.2 km of the centre is mapped as green space — parks, reserves, sportsgrounds and the like. An area estimate from a radius around the centre, not the suburb boundary. · OpenStreetMap
Transport
66/100A good number of stops nearby
About 15 public-transport stops (bus, train, tram or ferry) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. Stop coverage, not timetable frequency. · OpenStreetMap
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- 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.
Port Macquarie at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 47,693
- Median age
- 48
- Median weekly household income
- $1,282
- SEIFA score
- 969
- Local government area
- Port Macquarie-Hastings
- Coordinates
- -31.4601, 152.8960
Map of Port Macquarie
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Port Macquarie
What it costs to live in Port Macquarie and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $380
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,751
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 64%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 31%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Port Macquarie demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Port Macquarie demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Port Macquarie 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 29% and 15% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 7,423 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 5,099 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 9,414 | 20% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 11,993 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 13,765 | 29% |
Share of the 47,694 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 7,726 | 39% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 4,836 | 25% |
| Rented | 6,129 | 31% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 13,024 | 66% |
| Townhouses & semis | 3,541 | 18% |
| Flats & apartments | 3,000 | 15% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 19,708 occupied private dwellings in Port Macquarie.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,684
- Median weekly personal income
- $679
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 6,840 (15%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 2,463 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 2,462 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 18,529 (48%)
- Labour-force participation
- 52.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.9%
- Employed full-time
- 10,793
- Employed part-time
- 8,017
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 Port Macquarie
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Port Macquarie is January (average daytime high around 26.2°C) and the coolest is July (around 17.9°C). The area receives roughly 1076 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26.2°C | 21°C | 91 mm |
| Feb | 25.8°C | 20.7°C | 146 mm |
| Mar | 25°C | 19.8°C | 233 mm |
| Apr | 22.9°C | 16.8°C | 78 mm |
| May | 20.4°C | 13.7°C | 52 mm |
| Jun | 18.1°C | 11.5°C | 68 mm |
| Jul | 17.9°C | 10.3°C | 59 mm |
| Aug | 18.8°C | 10.7°C | 38 mm |
| Sep | 20.6°C | 12.9°C | 59 mm |
| Oct | 22.3°C | 15.6°C | 76 mm |
| Nov | 23.8°C | 17.4°C | 74 mm |
| Dec | 25.2°C | 19.5°C | 102 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Places in and around Port Macquarie
Amenities mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre, from OpenStreetMap. A guide to what's nearby — not a complete directory.
Parks & recreation
28 nearbyRosendahl Reserve · Lake Innes Nature Reserve · Innes Ruins Historic Site
Healthcare
2 nearbyGreenmeadows Pharmacy · Greenmeadows Health Centre
Schools & education
4 nearbyPort Macquarie Adventist School · Saint Peter's Primary School · Port Eco Kids Village · MacKillop College Port Macquarie
Things to do
1 nearbyShare your local knowledge of Port Macquarie
Lived here or spent time in Port Macquarie? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Port Macquarie
Is Port Macquarie a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage, housing affordability, amenities, green space and transport, Port Macquarie rates 52/100 overall (Around the national middle). Schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Port Macquarie?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Port Macquarie was $380, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,751. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Port Macquarie?
Port Macquarie is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area.
What is the population of Port Macquarie?
At the 2021 Census, Port Macquarie had a population of about 47,693.
Is Port Macquarie an advantaged area?
Port Macquarie has an ABS SEIFA score of 969, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 40 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 40% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Port Macquarie?
Port Macquarie has average daytime highs of about 22.3°C and overnight lows of about 15.8°C, with roughly 1,076 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Port Macquarie?
Port Macquarie is one of the most populous suburbs in New South Wales — the 2nd-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 47,693 usual residents).
Where Port Macquarie ranks
Port Macquarie appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in New South Wales#2 of 25
- Largest suburbs in Australia#10 of 25
Nearby suburbs in New South Wales
More suburb guides in New South Wales
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.