SINGLE ladies, think there is a man drought?

You'd be correct.

Down Under is in the grip of a shortage of eligible men as the odds stack up against the girls in the dating stakes.

Online dating agency data and fresh Census analysis shows just how hard it can be, statistically, for a woman to find a partner.

Parts of the Sunshine State have been man drought-declared, in the typical dating age bracket of 18-35, topped by cities like Cairns, Rockhampton and Toowoomba where women outnumber men by the hundreds.

Ladies unlucky in love might think about a road trip to a bachelor hot spot like the male-dominated military garrison city of Townsville.

Or they might try the outback mining centre of Mount Isa, made famous by a former Mayor who once said even "ugly ducklings'' and "beauty disadvantaged" women are welcome, where men are five-to-one.

Federal Families Minister Kevin Andrews, author of "Maybe, I Do", and the Catholic Church weighed into the debate suggesting young women might be too picky in the marriage game.

Single women Ana Smit and Desiree Russouw, both 18, said while they are picky there is "definitely a man drought''.

"We live in an empty abyss of no man's land,'' said Ms Russouw, a shop assistant.

"There are lots of hot girls out there, competing in a small pool, for an eligible few,'' she said.

The Cairns duo and self-described Generation YOLO (You Only Live Once) warn the modern-day manhunt is hard.

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"There are so many guys that are metro, gay or hipster,'' said Ms Smit, a beauty therapist.

The pair rate their top five as the "macho man", "gentleman", "bad boy grunge", "gym guys" and "bush bogans".

"I used to live in Darwin, way more guys, way hotter,'' said Ms Smit.

"I loved the bush bogans from Humpty Doo, all muscled up and manly, the sort who will go out crocodile wrestling and bull catching.''

Australia's biggest online dating agency RSVP said the strongest growth in new members in Queensland was coming from Cairns, Toowoomba and Rockhampton.

RSVP's Melanie Dudgeon said lovelorn singles look to meet new people outside their existing social network and immediate location.

In Brisbane the man-drought is evident in university suburbs like St Lucia, as more women take up tertiary education than men, with 3 per cent more ladies, said social researcher Mark McCrindle.

"This simply reflects the national drift of a man drought,'' he said yesterday.

Fellow demographer Bernard Salt, based on Census data published in March 2012, found it was most competitive for single women of marrying age.

There are 1.3 million single women aged 25-34 living in Australia. In the same age bracket, however, there are only 86,000 single, heterosexual, well-off or "eligible'' men earning above $60,000 a year, he said.