We are Mackay

5 per cent.

5 in every 100 Mackay residents speak a language other than English at home. 6,085 people, in 103 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
120,528
Speak another language
6,085
Languages at home
103
Growth since last census
+16.0%

Most of us speak English at home. 6,085 of us do not, across 103 languages, most often Tagalog, Afrikaans and Filipino. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.

In Queensland

#34

of 76 Queensland councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #251 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Tagalog

896 speakers

Tagalog is spoken by 896 of our residents at home, 0.7% of Mackay.

Afrikaans

625 speakers

Afrikaans is spoken by 625 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Mackay.

Filipino

554 speakers

Filipino is spoken by 554 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Mackay.

The languages of Mackay

103 languages carry the conversation at home. Every one of them is spoken here.

Each block below is scaled to the number of people who speak that language at home, and tinted by how fast that community has grown since the last census.

  • Grew 50%+
  • 25%+
  • 10%+
  • Held
  • Slipped
  • Declined 10%+
  • Not comparable
The 18 most spoken languages in Mackay, covering 4,422 speakers. Area is speakers at the 2021 Census; tint is the change since 2016. Every figure is also in the table below.

Every language, in order

Speakers at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016. Broader ABS categories such as “Chinese, nfd” are counted in our totals but left out of this list, so the percentages can exceed the sum of the languages shown.

  1. 01
    Tagalog
    896+16.2%
  2. 02
    Afrikaans
    625+8.1%
  3. 03
    Filipino
    554+5.3%
  4. 04
    Mandarin
    361+32.2%
  5. 05
    Maltese
    216-22.6%
  6. 06
    Punjabi
    201+36.7%
  7. 07
    German
    185+17.1%
  8. 08
    Malayalam
    180+40.6%
  9. 09
    Thai
    174+6.1%
  10. 10
    Hindi
    158-5.4%

Fastest-growing among us

Mandarin

+32.2% since last census

We share this portrait because a council below the Queensland average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 6,085 of us do not, at home, and a service that reaches everyone except them has not reached everyone. This almanac exists so that the number is on the record before the decision is made.

Mandarin grew 32.2% since the last census, to 361 speakers. A community growing at that rate is one whose translation needs are ahead of the last set of figures anyone commissioned.

Who we are, beyond language

Where we were born

10.2% of us were born overseas, across 95 countries.

  1. 01
    New Zealand
    2,813-2.5%
  2. 02
    England
    2,125-1.8%
  3. 03
    Philippines
    1,923+20.9%
  4. 04
    South Africa
    1,226+16.1%
  5. 05
    India
    669+22.5%
  6. 06
    Zimbabwe
    358+11.5%
  7. 07
    Germany
    249+5.5%
  8. 08
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    215+10.3%
  9. 09
    Malta
    204-10.9%
  10. 10
    Scotland
    156-21.2%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Mackay at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    Christianity
    61,662-16.7%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    44,957+62.1%
  3. 03
    Hinduism
    634+22.2%
  4. 04
    Buddhism
    628-13.9%
  5. 05
    Islam
    339+23.3%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    21+600%

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 73 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Mackay shaded by the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. Boundaries are ABS ASGS 2021. See every council on one map.

In context

Mackay
5.0%
Queensland
12.2%
Australia
21.3%

5.0% of Mackay residents speak a language other than English at home, against 12.2% for Queensland and 21.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 Census.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, language used at home by Statistical Area Level 2, aggregated to Local Government Area. Growth compares 2021 against the 2016 Census.

How the headline share is counted. 5.0% is 6,085 residents as a share of all 120,528 of us. A further 11,028 did not state a language at all, and we do not count them as speaking one — counting every non-response as a non-English speaker would put this figure at 14.2%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 5.6%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Mackay, it is almost certainly one of those two.

Two further caveats we would rather state than bury. Summing suburbs omits residents not allocated to one — no usual address, migratory and unincorporated areas — so national totals sit a little under the ABS published figures; the Mackay figures on this page are unaffected. And ranked language lists exclude ABS residual categories such as “Chinese, nfd”, which are not languages anyone can order a translation in; they remain inside the headline total.

Need this community reached in its own languages? Talk to us about translation in Mackay.