QLD · McKinlay Council
Julia Creek, 4823
Current weather
26°CClear sky
47% humidity · 9.2 km/h wind · 30.8° / 19.2° today · 0 mm rain
Updated
Desirability score
- Green suburb
- High desirability
Suburb profile
In McKinlay, Julia Creek keeps a rural calm, a smaller community with room to breathe and a strong local rhythm. Remote from the metro area in the best sense: quiet streets, big skies and a town that runs on its own timetable. Open skies and rolling countryside set a calm backdrop to everyday routines.
Residents are mostly families and working professionals, with plenty of young families in the mix. Life here is grounded in local routine rather than big-city choice, and that is part of the charm. The market sits in a sensible middle ground: not cheap, but fair value for the area.
Tree-lined streets and established homes set the tone, with little pressure to reinvent the neighbourhood.
On the desirability index, the suburb sits below average overall, mainly because housing affordability and local dining and lifestyle amenities lag similar regional towns, despite relative strength in transport and access. Limited access to some essential local services also trimmed the result.
Population
- Population
- 549
- Median age
- 37
- Median household income / week
- $1,586
- Dwelling vacancy
- 28.9%
- Unoccupied private dwellings
- 76 of 263
- Median monthly mortgage
- $625
- Employment rate
- 67.9%
- Dwelling mix (houses / semi / flats)
- 17 / 4 / 0
Contributes to desirability score · Community (5%)
Employment, household income and age diversity (2021 Census)
Data sources & freshness
- 2021 Census — General Community Profile — Australian Bureau of Statistics · Period: 2021 · Updated on site · 2021 Census release
The 2026 Census runs in August 2026; suburb-level updates are expected from mid-2027.
Crime & safety
- Total offences (Jan 2026 to Jul 2026)
- 23
- Against the person
- 3
- Against property
- 6
- Rate per 1,000 residents
- 41.9
- Person-crime prevalence
- About 1 in 183 residents
- State safety percentile
- 55th (lower crime is better)
- Increase (daily rate, partial year)
- +63.8%
Reported offences are running lower than the same point last year.
Reported offences by period
Most common offence types
- Assault5
- Drug Offences9
- Other Property Damage3
- Other Theft (Excl. Unlawful Entry)6
- Traffic And Related Offences14
Contributes to desirability score · Safety (18%)
Crime rate and year-on-year trend
Data sources & freshness
- QPS Online Crime Map — Queensland Police Service · Period: Jan 2025 to Dec 2025 → Jan 2026 to Jul 2026; Jan 2026 to Jul 2026 · Updated on site · Calendar-year aggregates
Schools & preschools
- Schools & preschools
- 1
- Median school ICSEA
- 919
- Julia Creek State SchoolPrimary
Contributes to desirability score · Education (15%)
School and preschool counts, median school ICSEA
Data sources & freshness
- ACARA school locations — Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority · Period: 2025 · Updated on site · Annual ACARA release
- School ICSEA scores — Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority · Period: 2025 · Updated on site · Annual ACARA release
Planning & development
Development applications from QLD coordinated projects (lodged 2020–2026).
1 planning-related records
Other· 1 proposal
- Julia Creek Vanadium and Energy projectGreenfield vanadium and oil shale mine and processing plant producing 10,571 tonnes per annum of vanadium and 313 million litres per annum of transport fuel over 30 years.Current EIS project
Contributes to desirability score · Future Growth (7%)
Development and planning activity
Data sources & freshness
- QLD coordinated projects — Queensland Department of State Development · Period: 2020–2026 · Updated on site · State coordinated projects register (not council DAs)
Amenities
No OpenStreetMap amenities mapped for this suburb yet.
Contributes to desirability score · Lifestyle (15%)
Food, shopping, recreation and sport (OpenStreetMap)
Data sources & freshness
- OpenStreetMap amenities — OpenStreetMap contributors · Period: current · Updated on site · Weekly refresh
Parks & reserves
2 parks and public open space in this suburb
- George Sills Lions ParkPark
- Off Leash Dog ParkPark
Data sources & freshness
- Parks & reserves — State government + ABS LGA boundaries · Period: current · Updated on site
Health access
- Hospitals & GP clinics
- 2
- Emergency department
- On site
- Julia Creek Chemistpharmacy
- Julia Creek Hospitalhospital
Contributes to desirability score · Accessibility (15%)
Hospitals and GP clinics
Data sources & freshness
- Hospitals & clinics — OpenStreetMap + state health datasets · Period: current · Updated on site
Socio-economic (SEIFA)
- IRSAD decile (2021)
- 4/10
- IRSD decile (2021)
- 5/10
SEIFA indexes from ABS 2021. Decile 10 = most advantaged / least disadvantaged in Australia.
Contributes to desirability score · Community (5%)
Socio-economic advantage (IRSAD decile)
Data sources & freshness
- SEIFA 2021 (IRSAD / IRSD) — Australian Bureau of Statistics · Period: 2021 · Updated on site · 2021 SEIFA release
Hazards
- Bushfire planning zone
- No overlay at centroid
Bushfire overlay checked at suburb centroid via Queensland Bushfire Prone Area mapping.
Contributes to desirability score · Safety (18%)
Bushfire hazard overlays
Data sources & freshness
- Hazard planning overlays — State government hazard layers · Period: current · Updated on site
Green cover
- Parks & woodland (OSM)
- 4
- Parks (OSM)
- 3
OpenStreetMap parks and natural woodland features mapped within the suburb boundary.
Contributes to desirability score · Environment (10%)
Parks and green cover (OpenStreetMap)
Data sources & freshness
- OpenStreetMap green cover features — OpenStreetMap contributors · Period: current · Updated on site · Weekly refresh
Desirability Index
- Desirability score
- 25.7/100 — Below average
- National rank
- 5979th in Australia
- State rank
- 1386th in QLD
- Peer rank
- #480 among Country & regional · Established suburbs
- Cohort rank
- #872 among Country & regional suburbs
- Data confidence
- 75%
Data sources & freshness
- Suburb Guide desirability index — Suburb Guide (derived score) · Period: current · Updated on site · Derived from source metrics
Recent changes
- Assaultcrime5
- Drug Offencescrime9
- Other Property Damagecrime3
- Other Theft (Excl. Unlawful Entry)crime6
- Traffic And Related Offencescrime14
- Julia Creek Chemisthealthpharmacy
- Julia Creek Hospitalhealthhospital
- George Sills Lions Parkgovernmentpark
- Off Leash Dog Parkgovernmentpark
- Julia Creek Vanadium and Energy projectplanningGreenfield vanadium and oil shale mine and processing plant producing 10,571 tonnes per annum of vanadium and 313 million litres per annum of transport fuel over 30 years.Current EIS project
Data sources & freshness
- QPS Online Crime Map — Queensland Police Service · Updated on site · Calendar-year aggregates
- Parks & reserves — State government + ABS LGA boundaries · Updated on site
- Hospitals & clinics — OpenStreetMap + state health datasets · Updated on site
- QLD coordinated projects — Queensland Department of State Development · Updated on site · State coordinated projects register (not council DAs)
More in McKinlay Council
Other suburbs in the same local government area.
Comparable suburbs
Similar population and socio-economic profile in other parts of Queensland.