Wide Bay, Qld

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 135,704 people in Wide Bay, Qld of these 49.4% were male and 50.6% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.5% of the population.

The median age of people in Wide Bay, Qld was 44 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 19.3% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.8% of the population.

Of people in Wide Bay, Qld aged 15 years and over, 50.9% were married and 15.0% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Wide Bay, Qld was 55 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In Wide Bay, Qld, of people aged 15 years and over, 51.3% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.8% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Wide Bay, Qld was 55 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 40 years.

In Wide Bay, Qld 27.1% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 32.4% were in primary school, 22.7% in secondary school and 11.8% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Wide Bay, Qld were English 31.5%, Australian 29.8%, Irish 8.2%, Scottish 7.8% and German 5.9%.

In Wide Bay, Qld, 80.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 5.0%, New Zealand 2.9%, Germany 0.7%, Scotland 0.5% and Netherlands 0.5%.

In Wide Bay, Qld, 70.8% of people had both parents born in Australia and 17.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Wide Bay, Qld were No Religion 25.4%, Anglican 20.3%, Catholic 17.8%, Uniting Church 8.2% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.6%.

In Wide Bay, Qld 91.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included German 0.6%, Italian 0.2%, French 0.2%, Dutch 0.2% and Tagalog 0.1%.

Employment

There were 57,435 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Wide Bay, Qld. Of these 51.7% were employed full time, 34.2% were employed part-time and 7.9% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Wide Bay, Qld, 12.8% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.6% worked 16 to 24 hours and 39.4% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Wide Bay, Qld was 44 years and for people who were employed part-time was 44 years.

The most common occupations in Wide Bay, Qld included Technicians and Trades Workers 15.4%, Professionals 14.9%, Labourers 13.1%, Managers 12.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 12.5%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.4%, Sales Workers 10.6% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 7.4%.

Of the employed people in Wide Bay, Qld, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 6.2%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.6%, Hospitals 3.3%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 2.9% and Accommodation 2.7%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Wide Bay, Qld was $445.

In Wide Bay, Qld, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 62.1%, Car, as passenger 6.2%, Walked only 4.1%, Truck 1.6% and Motorbike/scooter 1.1%. On the day, 1.4% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 68.6% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Wide Bay, Qld, of people aged 15 years and over, 71.5% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 26.2% provided care for children and 12.3% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 21.0% 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 Wide Bay, Qld, 25.7% worked 5 to 14 hours, 14.4% worked 15 to 29 hours and 13.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Wide Bay, Qld, 35.5% were couple families with children, 46.9% were couple families without children and 16.5% were one parent families.

In Wide Bay, Qld 18.6% of single parents were male and 81.4% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Wide Bay, Qld, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,796 and those without children was $1,564.

Employment status of couple families

In Wide Bay, Qld, of couple families with children, 14.7% had both partners employed full-time, 4.7% had both employed part-time and 17.4% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Wide Bay, Qld, 83.7% of private dwellings were occupied and 16.3% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Wide Bay, Qld, 86.8% were separate houses, 4.6% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 6.7% were flats, units or apartments and 1.9% were other dwellings.

In Wide Bay, Qld, of occupied private dwellings 4.1% had 1 bedroom, 17.3% had 2 bedrooms and 46.8% 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 Wide Bay, Qld, 37.6% were owned outright, 31.2% were owned with a mortgage and 27.5% were rented.

Household composition

In Wide Bay, Qld, of all households, 71.5% were family households, 25.1% were single person households and 3.3% were group households.

In Wide Bay, Qld, 33.6% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 3.8% 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 Wide Bay, Qld, 37.8% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 36.4% had two registered motor vehicles and 15.9% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Wide Bay, Qld, there were 4,778 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 2,430 (or 50.9%) were male and 2,348 (or 49.1%) were female. The median age was 19 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 Wide Bay, Qld, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.4, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $838.

In Wide Bay, Qld, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $190 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,387.