Number of Motor Vehicles (VEHD, VEHRD)
This variable records the number of registered motor vehicles owned or used by household members that were garaged or parked at or near their dwelling on Census night. This variable is applicable to all occupied private dwellings enumerated in the 2016 Census.
How this variable is created
Number of Motor Vehicles is a dwelling variable created from the Number of Motor Vehicles question on the Census Household Form. An image of this question is provided below.
Data for this variable is captured automatically from a written numeric response or by marking the 'None' mark box.
This variable includes single fields for values from 0 to 29. Values of 30 or more are grouped together. An additional variable Number of Motor Vehicles Ranged is also available and groups responses to this question differently. Responses for 1-3 motor vehicles are available singly, and responses of 4 or more motor vehicles are coded into the grouped category of 'Four or more motor vehicles'.
Variable history
This variable was first introduced in 1966. The question has remained in all subsequent Censuses. In 2001 this question also asked for the number of motorbikes and motor scooters. Asking for motorbikes and motor scooters was removed in 2006. This variable was unchanged between 2011 and 2016.
Non-response rate
Item non-response rates are a measure of how many people did not respond to a particular question as a proportion of the total number of people the question was applicable to. In this instance the response is left as not stated.
The majority of item non-response is attributable to the people who did not respond to the Census at all. The second and smaller contributor to item non-response is when people return a Census form but may not answer a particular question(s). For more information, refer to Understanding Census data quality.
The non-response rate for this variable was 8.4% in 2016 (6.5% in 2011).
Data usage notes
Dwellings with a high number of motor vehicles reported were checked manually to ensure that they match the actual response on the form. The data may include a small proportion of dwellings with unusually large numbers of vehicles, as all numeric responses are accepted as reported.
Further information
A definition for Number of Motor Vehicles is available in the 2016 Census Dictionary.
A definition for Number of Motor Vehicles Ranged is available in the 2016 Census Dictionary.
Household Form Question Image
Question 54 as it appeared on the 2016 Census Household Paper Form.
A text only version of the online Census Household form is available from the Downloads tab.
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