Coffs Harbour

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 64,243 people in Coffs Harbour of these 48.4% were male and 51.6% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.2% of the population.

The median age of people in Coffs Harbour was 42 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 19.0% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.5% of the population.

Of people in Coffs Harbour aged 15 years and over, 48.2% were married and 14.9% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Coffs Harbour was 55 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Coffs Harbour, of people aged 15 years and over, 48.7% of people were in a registered marriage and 9.9% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Coffs Harbour was 54 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 40 years.

In Coffs Harbour 29.7% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.1% were in primary school, 23.6% in secondary school and 19.1% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Coffs Harbour were Australian 31.4%, English 31.2%, Irish 9.0%, Scottish 7.7% and German 3.2%.

In Coffs Harbour, 82.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 3.7%, New Zealand 1.5%, India 1.0%, Germany 0.6% and Scotland 0.5%.

In Coffs Harbour, 71.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 16.9% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Coffs Harbour were Anglican 24.6%, No Religion 22.6%, Catholic 22.4%, Uniting Church 4.4% and Presbyterian and Reformed 4.4%.

In Coffs Harbour 90.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Punjabi 1.4%, German 0.4%, Italian 0.4%, Dinka 0.2% and French 0.2%.

Employment

There were 28,491 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Coffs Harbour. Of these 50.6% were employed full time, 35.1% were employed part-time and 8.3% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Coffs Harbour, 13.9% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.9% worked 16 to 24 hours and 36.1% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Coffs Harbour was 44 years and for people who were employed part-time was 42 years.

The most common occupations in Coffs Harbour included Professionals 17.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 14.2%, Technicians and Trades Workers 14.0%, Managers 12.2%, Sales Workers 11.9%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.9%, Labourers 11.4% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 5.2%.

Of the employed people in Coffs Harbour, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 5.6%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 5.1%, Hospitals 3.9%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.3% and Residential Care Services 3.1%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Coffs Harbour was $470.

In Coffs Harbour, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 65.8%, Car, as passenger 7.0%, Walked only 3.6%, Truck 1.5% and Bicycle 1.1%. On the day, 0.8% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 73.1% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Coffs Harbour, of people aged 15 years and over, 72.0% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 26.9% provided care for children and 12.2% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 19.1% of people did voluntary work through an organisation or a group.

Of people who did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census in Coffs Harbour, 26.9% worked 5 to 14 hours, 14.0% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.6% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Coffs Harbour, 36.9% were couple families with children, 42.8% were couple families without children and 19.3% were one parent families.

In Coffs Harbour 17.8% of single parents were male and 82.2% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Coffs Harbour, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,889 and those without children was $1,664.

Employment status of couple families

In Coffs Harbour, of couple families with children, 16.0% had both partners employed full-time, 5.0% had both employed part-time and 20.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Coffs Harbour, 89.8% of private dwellings were occupied and 10.2% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Coffs Harbour, 74.9% were separate houses, 11.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 10.3% were flats, units or apartments and 3.1% were other dwellings.

In Coffs Harbour, of occupied private dwellings 4.5% had 1 bedroom, 20.8% had 2 bedrooms and 43.4% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.1. The average household size was 2.4 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Coffs Harbour, 35.3% were owned outright, 28.0% were owned with a mortgage and 32.8% were rented.

Household composition

In Coffs Harbour, of all households, 69.6% were family households, 27.0% were single person households and 3.5% were group households.

In Coffs Harbour, 31.9% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 4.5% of households had a weekly income of more than $3,000.

Mortgage & rent

Proportions are calculated using all tenure types for occupied private dwellings. This excludes visitor only and other non-classifiable households.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households whose rent payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which are not renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households who own their dwelling, and whose mortgage payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which were renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Number of motor vehicles

In Coffs Harbour, 40.7% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 34.4% had two registered motor vehicles and 13.0% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Coffs Harbour, there were 2,669 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,272 (or 47.7%) were male and 1,397 (or 52.3%) were female. The median age was 20 years.

Dwelling characteristics

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households. These tables represent occupied private dwellings where at least one Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander person was present.

Average number of people per bedroom includes a miscalculation. For more information see the persons per bedroom correction page.

In Coffs Harbour, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.1, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $905.

In Coffs Harbour, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $250 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733.