The suburb is named after John Macarthur, one of the founders of Australia's Merino wool industry.

The three main countries of birth for those born overseas were England, 4.5%, India, 1.7% and South Africa, 0.9.

The new and current Macarthur Child Care Centre was built and officially reopened in June 2014 due to high local demand.

In 1978 a group of Canberra motorcycle racers approached the Department of the Interior for permission to use an unbuilt, yet developed, area in one of the unused suburbs in Tuggeranong for racing.

Macarthur Park used Coyne Street, Jackie Howe Crescent, Merriman Crescent and Carson Street to form the circuit and the undulating nature of the course made it one of the most attractive road courses in south-east Australia.

The only signs are the miscoloured traffic island extension on Coyne Street, which was put back in after the island was shortened to allow sidecars to be raced on the circuit, and a sign in the nearby pines about 50 metres from a small off-street carpark that explains the short history of the circuit and the riders that rode it.

In the ACT Legislative Assembly, Macarthur is in the Brindabella electorate, which is currently represented by two Liberal, two Labor and one Greens member.