Port Stephens

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 69,667 people in Port Stephens of these 49.3% were male and 50.7% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.6% of the population.

The median age of people in Port Stephens was 43 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 18.3% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 21.4% of the population.

Of people in Port Stephens aged 15 years and over, 49.7% were married and 14.0% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Port Stephens was 56 years and the median age of people never married was 26 years.

In Port Stephens, of people aged 15 years and over, 50.3% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.2% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Port Stephens was 56 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 37 years.

In Port Stephens 27.9% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.5% were in primary school, 21.0% in secondary school and 16.4% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Port Stephens were Australian 32.3%, English 32.1%, Irish 8.1%, Scottish 7.6% and German 3.0%.

In Port Stephens, 82.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 3.9%, New Zealand 1.3%, Scotland 0.6%, Germany 0.5% and Netherlands 0.4%.

In Port Stephens, 72.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 15.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Port Stephens were Anglican 28.8%, Catholic 23.2%, No Religion 19.1%, Uniting Church 6.1% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.8%.

In Port Stephens 91.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 0.3%, German 0.3%, Greek 0.2%, Mandarin 0.2% and Croatian 0.2%.

Employment

There were 29,469 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Port Stephens. Of these 55.6% were employed full time, 31.3% were employed part-time and 6.7% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Port Stephens, 12.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 41.4% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Port Stephens was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 42 years.

The most common occupations in Port Stephens included Technicians and Trades Workers 18.0%, Professionals 15.0%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.7%, Labourers 11.4%, Managers 10.7%, Sales Workers 10.5% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 8.0%.

Of the employed people in Port Stephens, the most common responses for industry of employment included Defence 5.7%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 5.0%, School Education 3.8%, Residential Care Services 3.2% and Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.2%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Port Stephens was $480.

In Port Stephens, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 67.3%, Car, as passenger 5.6%, Walked only 3.3%, Bus 1.2% and Truck 1.2%. On the day, 2.1% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 73.2% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Port Stephens, of people aged 15 years and over, 70.1% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 27.2% 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, 16.5% 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 Port Stephens, 25.4% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.8% worked 15 to 29 hours and 12.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Port Stephens, 36.3% were couple families with children, 45.0% were couple families without children and 17.5% were one parent families.

In Port Stephens 17.6% of single parents were male and 82.4% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Port Stephens, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,101 and those without children was $1,859.

Employment status of couple families

In Port Stephens, of couple families with children, 15.8% had both partners employed full-time, 3.7% had both employed part-time and 18.4% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Port Stephens, 79.7% of private dwellings were occupied and 20.3% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Port Stephens, 81.1% were separate houses, 11.6% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 5.1% were flats, units or apartments and 2.1% were other dwellings.

In Port Stephens, of occupied private dwellings 3.9% had 1 bedroom, 18.3% had 2 bedrooms and 44.4% 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 Port Stephens, 37.7% were owned outright, 28.6% were owned with a mortgage and 29.8% were rented.

Household composition

In Port Stephens, of all households, 70.2% were family households, 26.9% were single person households and 2.8% were group households.

In Port Stephens, 30.9% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 5.5% 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 Port Stephens, 40.3% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 35.2% had two registered motor vehicles and 14.2% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Port Stephens, there were 2,475 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,210 (or 48.9%) were male and 1,265 (or 51.1%) 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 Port Stephens, 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 $958.

In Port Stephens, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $230 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733.