The primary objective of this work is to study the dynamical characteristics of an anisotropic compact star model with spherical symmetry. This investigation is conducted in the framework of modified f(Q) gravity. To simplify the calculations, we employ the Karmarkar condition and derive a differential equation that establishes a relationship between two crucial components of the spacetime namely eν and eλ. Additionally, we incorporate the well-known Finch–Skea structure as the component representing grr and subsequently find the resulting form of the component gtt from the relation of metric functions to formulate the precise solutions for the stellar structure. To assess the behavior of the anisotropic fluid and stability of the compact star, we use the observed values of mass and radius for the compact star model PSRJ0437−4715. The graphical analysis depicts that the stellar structure possesses physical viability and exhibits intriguing properties. Furthermore, we predicted the mass–radius relation along with the maximum mass limit of several objects for different parameter values by assuming two different surface densities. It is discovered that the compactness rises when density increases.