Upper Hunter Shire (A)

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 13,754 people in Upper Hunter Shire (A) of these 49.9% were male and 50.1% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.9% of the population.

The median age of people in Upper Hunter Shire (A) was 39 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 21.2% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.4% of the population.

Of people in Upper Hunter Shire (A) aged 15 years and over, 51.0% were married and 11.6% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Upper Hunter Shire (A) was 52 years and the median age of people never married was 26 years.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), of people aged 15 years and over, 51.5% of people were in a registered marriage and 11.7% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Upper Hunter Shire (A) was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 35 years.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A) 27.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 32.5% were in primary school, 23.2% in secondary school and 12.1% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Upper Hunter Shire (A) were Australian 36.6%, English 32.4%, Irish 8.2%, Scottish 7.9% and German 2.8%.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), 88.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.7%, New Zealand 1.5%, Ireland 0.3%, United States of America 0.2% and Philippines 0.2%.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), 84.1% of people had both parents born in Australia and 8.6% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Upper Hunter Shire (A) were Anglican 39.3%, Catholic 26.9%, No Religion 13.4%, Uniting Church 5.6% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.3%.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A) 93.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 0.2%, Portuguese 0.2%, Cantonese 0.1%, Arabic 0.1% and Tagalog 0.1%.

Employment

There were 6,772 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Upper Hunter Shire (A). Of these 63.6% were employed full time, 26.5% were employed part-time and 3.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Upper Hunter Shire (A), 10.0% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.4% worked 16 to 24 hours and 51.8% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Upper Hunter Shire (A) was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 43 years.

The most common occupations in Upper Hunter Shire (A) included Technicians and Trades Workers 17.1%, Managers 16.6%, Labourers 15.9%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 13.3%, Professionals 11.5%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 9.6%, Community and Personal Service Workers 7.5% and Sales Workers 6.9%.

Of the employed people in Upper Hunter Shire (A), the most common responses for industry of employment included Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 10.2%, Coal Mining 9.2%, Other Livestock Farming 5.9%, School Education 4.6% and Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 2.9%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Upper Hunter Shire (A) was $552.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 61.7%, Walked only 6.6%, Car, as passenger 6.0%, Truck 2.0% and Other 1.1%. On the day, 0.6% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 68.2% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), of people aged 15 years and over, 70.8% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 29.9% provided care for children and 10.9% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 22.9% 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 Upper Hunter Shire (A), 25.3% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.1% worked 15 to 29 hours and 12.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Upper Hunter Shire (A), 42.5% were couple families with children, 42.6% were couple families without children and 14.1% were one parent families.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A) 22.2% of single parents were male and 77.8% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,181 and those without children was $1,762.

Employment status of couple families

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), of couple families with children, 22.3% had both partners employed full-time, 2.7% had both employed part-time and 23.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), 84.7% of private dwellings were occupied and 15.3% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Upper Hunter Shire (A), 92.0% were separate houses, 2.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 3.7% were flats, units or apartments and 2.1% were other dwellings.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), of occupied private dwellings 3.6% had 1 bedroom, 15.3% had 2 bedrooms and 45.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2. The average household size was 2.4 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Upper Hunter Shire (A), 35.3% were owned outright, 30.9% were owned with a mortgage and 29.6% were rented.

Household composition

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), of all households, 69.8% were family households, 27.2% were single person households and 3.0% were group households.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), 27.5% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 8.5% 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 Upper Hunter Shire (A), 32.5% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 38.6% had two registered motor vehicles and 19.3% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), there were 536 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 277 (or 51.7%) were male and 259 (or 48.3%) 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 Upper Hunter Shire (A), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.2, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,184.

In Upper Hunter Shire (A), for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $180 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,278.