Coffs Harbour

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 24,581 people in Coffs Harbour of these 47.9% were male and 52.1% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.5% of the population.

The median age of people in Coffs Harbour was 42 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 18.0% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 19.6% of the population.

Of people in Coffs Harbour aged 15 years and over, 42.4% were married and 16.1% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Coffs Harbour was 55 years and the median age of people never married was 26 years.

In Coffs Harbour, of people aged 15 years and over, 43.2% 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 Coffs Harbour was 54 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 36 years.

In Coffs Harbour 29.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 24.8% were in primary school, 20.2% in secondary school and 21.3% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Coffs Harbour were Australian 30.8%, English 30.4%, Irish 9.0%, Scottish 7.3% and German 3.1%.

In Coffs Harbour, 80.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 3.4%, New Zealand 1.5%, India 0.6%, Germany 0.5% and Scotland 0.4%.

In Coffs Harbour, 71.4% of people had both parents born in Australia and 17.6% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Coffs Harbour were Catholic 23.4%, Anglican 23.2%, No Religion 21.4%, Presbyterian and Reformed 4.6% and Uniting Church 4.5%.

In Coffs Harbour 88.3% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 0.6%, Punjabi 0.5%, German 0.4%, Dinka 0.4% and French 0.3%.

Employment

There were 10,745 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Coffs Harbour. Of these 51.3% were employed full time, 33.7% were employed part-time and 9.1% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Coffs Harbour, 13.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 35.7% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Coffs Harbour was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 41 years.

The most common occupations in Coffs Harbour included Professionals 17.4%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 14.6%, Technicians and Trades Workers 13.8%, Sales Workers 12.6%, Managers 12.2%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.0%, Labourers 10.9% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 4.9%.

Of the employed people in Coffs Harbour, the most common responses for industry of employment included Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 5.6%, School Education 4.5%, Hospitals 4.2%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.3% and Accommodation 3.2%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Coffs Harbour was $462.

In Coffs Harbour, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 64.0%, Car, as passenger 7.1%, Walked only 4.8%, Bicycle 1.8% and Truck 1.5%. On the day, 0.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 71.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Coffs Harbour, 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, 25.7% provided care for children and 11.7% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 18.3% 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 Coffs Harbour, 26.5% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.5% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.7% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Coffs Harbour, 33.9% were couple families with children, 42.3% were couple families without children and 22.5% were one parent families.

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

Weekly incomes

In Coffs Harbour, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,860 and those without children was $1,674.

Employment status of couple families

In Coffs Harbour, of couple families with children, 16.9% had both partners employed full-time, 4.7% had both employed part-time and 19.8% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Coffs Harbour, 90.6% of private dwellings were occupied and 9.4% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Coffs Harbour, 62.9% were separate houses, 16.8% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 18.3% were flats, units or apartments and 2.0% were other dwellings.

In Coffs Harbour, of occupied private dwellings 5.5% had 1 bedroom, 25.4% had 2 bedrooms and 43.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.9. The average household size was 2.3 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Coffs Harbour, 32.2% were owned outright, 23.5% were owned with a mortgage and 40.6% were rented.

Household composition

In Coffs Harbour, of all households, 63.2% were family households, 32.0% were single person households and 4.8% were group households.

In Coffs Harbour, 34.5% 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 Coffs Harbour, 43.0% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 30.3% had two registered motor vehicles and 10.5% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Coffs Harbour, there were 1,115 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 525 (or 47.1%) were male and 590 (or 52.9%) were female. The median age was 21 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 Coffs Harbour, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.9, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $818.

In Coffs Harbour, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $250 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,532.