Rockhampton property market: the official numbers
Rockhampton, QLD, in official numbers: the people, the rents, the repayments, and the pay cheques behind them. Every figure below is ABS Census 2021 data, linked at the bottom so you can check it yourself.
The straight answer
Rockhampton rented at a median $290/wk in 2021 — 23% below the national median. Repayments ($1,419/mo) ran ahead of rent ($1,257/mo), but not brutally.
The key numbers
The typical repayment ran at about 21% of the median household income. Point-in-time medians, August 2021. Repayments have risen a long way since the 2022–24 rate rises, so use these to compare places, not to price anything today.
Rent against the repayment
At the census, the typical monthly rent worked out to $1,257 against a typical mortgage repayment of $1,419:
What this gap does and doesn't tell you
The mortgage figure reflects loans and rates as at August 2021, before the 2022–24 rate rises — today's repayment on a new loan would be higher. The rent figure is what tenants were actually paying, not today's asking rents. The useful signal is the shape: where rent and repayments sit close together, buying has historically competed well with renting here; where repayments tower over rent, the market prices in growth. Run your own numbers with the mortgage vs invest tool or what can I afford?
Who owns, who rents
32.5% of Rockhampton households rent — that's the tenant pool an investor here would actually be renting into, and it's about the national norm.
Who calls Rockhampton home
What the age mix means for housing
A heavy 25–44 band usually means family housing demand (and pressure on 3–4 bedroom stock); a heavy 65+ band signals downsizer and retiree demand (units, single-level living, proximity to health care). Rockhampton's median age of 36 sits below the national median of 38.
Where the pay cheques come from
health care & social assistance employs 18.1% of Rockhampton's 36,282 workers (Census 2021). Local housing demand rises and falls with it.
What it costs to buy in QLD
Current sale prices live behind licensed feeds we won't republish. The costs of buying don't — they're public and exact:
- Stamp duty in Queensland — exact duty and first-home-buyer concessions.
- What can I afford? — borrowing power, price range and all-in upfront cash.
- The official QLD price trend — ABS state-level values since 2011, interactive.
Questions people ask
What is the median rent in Rockhampton?
At the 2021 Census the median rent in Rockhampton was $290 a week — 23% below the national median ($375/wk). Rents have moved since 2021; check current listings for today's asking rents.
How many people live in Rockhampton?
79,293 people at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 36 (national median: 38). Rockhampton is one of Queensland's significant urban areas as defined by the ABS.
What do people in Rockhampton do for work?
The biggest employing industry is health care & social assistance, followed by education & training (ABS Census 2021). The industry mix shapes how resilient local housing demand is.
Where this leaves you
Your call
Rent covered roughly 89% of the typical repayment here — a middling shape. Owner-occupiers do fine in markets like this; an investor needs a sharper reason to pick it. The catch is concentration: health care & social assistance carries 18.1% of local jobs, and that cuts both ways — it drives housing demand in the good years and takes it away in the bad ones.
Everything above is August 2021 — before you act, pull current asking rents, vacancy and listing volumes for Rockhampton. Then run your own numbers: what can I afford? for borrowing power and upfront cash, and the Queensland stamp duty calculator for the tax bill.
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General information only — not financial or property advice. All figures are ABS Census 2021 ( official QuickStats for Rockhampton, CC-BY 4.0), which predates the 2022–24 rate rises; conditions have moved since. Last reviewed 10 July 2026.