Alligator Creek is a rural village 20 km south of Mackay, on the road between Hays Point and the Bruce Highway. The area's settlement was co-terminus with the Sarina district, and its primary school was opened in 1896, the year before the school at Plane Creek (Sarina). Settlement was encouraged by the opening of the central sugar mill at Plane Creek, about 10 km south.
Pugh's Post Office Directory (1904) recorded numerous farmers around Alligator Creek, along with a store and a hotel. The population of the village and the district was recorded at around 200 until the 1960s, and the next recorded census year was 1986 when 631 people were counted. Alligator Creek had come within a comfortable commuting distance of Mackay and Sarina. The school was enlarged with extra buildings in 1968, 1990 and 1998.
Alligator Creek has a store and two caravan parks. Its census populations have been:
| Census Date | Population |
|---|---|
| 1911 | 168 |
| 1947 | 261 |
| 1961 | 270 |
| 1986 | 631 |
| 2001 | 976 |
| 2006 | 1243 |
| 2011 | 701 |
