Macquarie Hills

Development Activity

Demographics

The median age of 35 is 5 years below the national figure, placing Macquarie Hills among younger established suburbs by NSW standards. Overseas-born residents account for 9.1%, which is 12.5 percentage points below the national figure, making this one of the more locally-born communities in the state. Ancestry is Anglo-Celtic: English (1,537 residents), Scottish (434) and Irish (390) lead the counts. University qualifications reach 29.3%, roughly in line with the national rate at 0.8 percentage points below. Average household size of 2.9 is 0.4 above national, consistent with the large share of couples with children: 1,563 families fall into that category versus 752 couples with no children.

Tenure is dominated by households with a mortgage at 57.5%, outright owners at 29.1% and renters at 13.4%, a profile that reflects a suburb still mid-way through its wealth accumulation cycle rather than the long-held heritage profile of an older inner ring. The stock is 98% separate houses with just 2% semi-detached and no meaningful apartment presence. Bedroom distribution tilts to large family homes: four or more bedrooms account for 50.9% and three bedrooms 47.4%. Prices rose from $852,500 in 2024 to $910,250 in 2025, a 6.8% gain, and the CAGR over the recorded period holds at 6.8%. Rent-to-income sits at 21.1%, below stress levels, and mortgage-to-income at 20.6% is similarly comfortable relative to most NSW markets.

Community Profile

Economy & Employment

Healthcare dominates employment at 23.2% of workers (310 people), which is notably higher than the national sector average and likely reflects proximity to John Hunter Hospital and Hunter-region health infrastructure. Education follows at 11.4% (152 workers), Construction at 9.6% (128) and Public Admin at 7.6% (102). By occupation, Professionals lead at 402, followed by Clerical/Admin at 320 and Community/Personal at 244. The full-time employment rate is 64.8% and the unemployment rate is 4.0%. The IRSAD decile of 8 and IEO decile of 9 confirm an above-average advantage profile, while the IRSD decile of 6 reflects a working-to-middle-class base rather than elite wealth. Real income grew 11.6% over the decade.

Transport to Work

Car dependency is very high: 93.6% of residents drive to work, well above national averages, and only 0.6% use public transport, reflecting the suburban layout of a 2.34 square km area without heavy rail. Walking and cycling account for 1.2% of commuters. Housing stress indicators are benign: mortgage-to-income at 20.6% and rent-to-income at 21.1% both sit below the 30% stress benchmark, lower than state averages. The IRSAD decile of 8 places the suburb in the top two quintiles nationally for advantage. Volunteering reaches 13.7% of residents. No schools are recorded within the suburb boundary in this dataset, so families rely on schools in the wider Lake Macquarie area. The 4.6% of residents needing daily assistance (164 people) is modest relative to the suburb's aging trajectory.

Population Forecast

Macquarie Hills grew 21.6% over the decade to 2021, a rate well above most established NSW suburbs. The current estimated population of 3,605 has climbed steadily from 3,166 in 2023 to 3,231 by 2025. Annual growth of 1.24% adds around 40 residents per year, and medium forecasts project the suburb reaching 3,451 by 2031. Overseas migration is the primary driver at a net 46 arrivals per year, partially offset by net internal outflow of 21. The gentrification score sits at early signs, with signals including population growth of 22% since 2011 and an affordability trend improving from 45.9% in 2011 to 37.1% in 2021. The aging trajectory signal notes the senior share rose 3.3 points while the young share fell 0.4 points over the decade.

National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs

How Macquarie Hills compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs

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