Upper Hunter

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 72,463 people in Upper Hunter of these 50.9% were male and 49.1% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.6% of the population.

The median age of people in Upper Hunter was 38 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 21.0% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.6% of the population.

Of people in Upper Hunter 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 was 51 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Upper Hunter, of people aged 15 years and over, 52.0% of people were in a registered marriage and 11.1% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Upper Hunter was 51 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 36 years.

In Upper Hunter 29.0% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 30.5% were in primary school, 23.4% in secondary school and 13.0% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Upper Hunter were Australian 36.4%, English 31.9%, Irish 8.0%, Scottish 7.4% and German 3.3%.

In Upper Hunter, 87.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.9%, New Zealand 1.5%, South Africa 0.3%, Scotland 0.3% and Philippines 0.3%.

In Upper Hunter, 82.6% of people had both parents born in Australia and 9.3% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Upper Hunter were Anglican 36.6%, Catholic 24.1%, No Religion 15.0%, Uniting Church 5.7% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.8%.

In Upper Hunter 93.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Afrikaans 0.2%, German 0.1%, Cantonese 0.1%, Italian 0.1% and Mandarin 0.1%.

Employment

There were 35,309 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Upper Hunter. Of these 62.3% were employed full time, 27.1% were employed part-time and 4.3% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Upper Hunter, 10.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.9% worked 16 to 24 hours and 50.7% worked 40 hours or more.

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

The most common occupations in Upper Hunter included Technicians and Trades Workers 17.6%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 15.4%, Managers 14.3%, Labourers 12.5%, Professionals 11.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.9%, Community and Personal Service Workers 8.4% and Sales Workers 7.3%.

Of the employed people in Upper Hunter, the most common responses for industry of employment included Coal Mining 13.8%, Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 6.0%, School Education 4.0%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.3% and Supermarket and Grocery Stores 2.5%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Upper Hunter was $547.

In Upper Hunter, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 64.5%, Car, as passenger 5.7%, Walked only 4.9%, Truck 1.6% and Other 0.8%. On the day, 0.7% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 70.6% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Upper Hunter, of people aged 15 years and over, 71.2% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 29.8% provided care for children and 11.4% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 21.3% 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, 25.1% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.3% worked 15 to 29 hours and 13.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Upper Hunter, 43.5% were couple families with children, 41.0% were couple families without children and 14.4% were one parent families.

In Upper Hunter 20.9% of single parents were male and 79.1% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Upper Hunter, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,372 and those without children was $1,946.

Employment status of couple families

In Upper Hunter, of couple families with children, 20.7% had both partners employed full-time, 3.2% had both employed part-time and 23.1% 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, 85.2% of private dwellings were occupied and 14.8% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Upper Hunter, 91.5% were separate houses, 3.1% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 3.9% were flats, units or apartments and 1.4% were other dwellings.

In Upper Hunter, of occupied private dwellings 3.4% had 1 bedroom, 14.5% 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 2.5 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Upper Hunter, 35.4% were owned outright, 33.0% were owned with a mortgage and 28.3% were rented.

Household composition

In Upper Hunter, of all households, 72.3% were family households, 25.0% were single person households and 2.7% were group households.

In Upper Hunter, 25.7% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 11.1% 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, 31.2% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 39.0% had two registered motor vehicles and 21.0% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Upper Hunter, there were 3,362 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,682 (or 50.0%) were male and 1,680 (or 50.0%) 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, 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 $1,090.

In Upper Hunter, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $200 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,706.