Newcastle

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 67,920 people in Newcastle of these 49.7% were male and 50.3% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.4% of the population.

The median age of people in Newcastle was 37 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 15.3% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.6% of the population.

Of people in Newcastle aged 15 years and over, 36.6% were married and 13.9% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Newcastle was 50 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In Newcastle, of people aged 15 years and over, 37.5% of people were in a registered marriage and 12.3% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Newcastle was 50 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 33 years.

In Newcastle 30.2% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 21.1% were in primary school, 15.6% in secondary school and 33.8% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Newcastle were English 28.9%, Australian 28.7%, Irish 10.1%, Scottish 8.4% and German 3.0%.

In Newcastle, 81.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 2.2%, New Zealand 1.3%, Italy 0.6%, Scotland 0.5% and United States of America 0.4%.

In Newcastle, 71.1% of people had both parents born in Australia and 16.5% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Newcastle were Catholic 26.0%, No Religion 25.6%, Anglican 20.6%, Uniting Church 4.9% and Presbyterian and Reformed 2.9%.

In Newcastle 87.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Greek 0.9%, Italian 0.8%, Macedonian 0.7%, Mandarin 0.3% and German 0.3%.

Employment

There were 35,898 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Newcastle. Of these 58.5% were employed full time, 30.0% were employed part-time and 5.7% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Newcastle, 11.9% worked 1 to 15 hours, 9.7% worked 16 to 24 hours and 44.7% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Newcastle was 38 years and for people who were employed part-time was 37 years.

The most common occupations in Newcastle included Professionals 29.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.6%, Technicians and Trades Workers 12.6%, Managers 11.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 10.6%, Sales Workers 8.9%, Labourers 7.6% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 4.5%.

Of the employed people in Newcastle, the most common responses for industry of employment included Hospitals 5.3%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 5.1%, School Education 5.0%, Tertiary Education 3.8% and Architectural, Engineering and Technical Services 3.4%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Newcastle was $625.

In Newcastle, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 62.0%, Walked only 5.7%, Car, as passenger 5.3%, Bicycle 2.6% and Bus 2.4%. On the day, 4.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 67.7% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Newcastle, of people aged 15 years and over, 72.5% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 25.5% provided care for children and 11.2% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 17.2% 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 Newcastle, 27.9% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.0% worked 15 to 29 hours and 7.8% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Newcastle, 37.8% were couple families with children, 40.5% were couple families without children and 19.1% were one parent families.

In Newcastle 17.4% of single parents were male and 82.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Newcastle, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,539 and those without children was $2,243.

Employment status of couple families

In Newcastle, of couple families with children, 23.0% had both partners employed full-time, 4.0% had both employed part-time and 23.6% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Newcastle, 90.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 9.6% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Newcastle, 62.2% were separate houses, 14.5% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 22.7% were flats, units or apartments and 0.5% were other dwellings.

In Newcastle, of occupied private dwellings 8.5% had 1 bedroom, 33.0% had 2 bedrooms and 41.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.7. The average household size was 2.2 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Newcastle, 27.9% were owned outright, 28.3% were owned with a mortgage and 40.2% were rented.

Household composition

In Newcastle, of all households, 57.9% were family households, 33.7% were single person households and 8.4% were group households.

In Newcastle, 26.6% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 11.5% 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 Newcastle, 40.3% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 32.0% had two registered motor vehicles and 10.1% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Newcastle, there were 1,628 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 822 (or 50.5%) were male and 806 (or 49.5%) were female. The median age was 25 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 Newcastle, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.6, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,039.

In Newcastle, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $250 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,950.