West Tamworth

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 5,347 people in West Tamworth of these 48.6% were male and 51.4% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 19.9% of the population.

The median age of people in West Tamworth was 33 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 24.3% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.7% of the population.

Of people in West Tamworth aged 15 years and over, 33.6% were married and 15.3% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in West Tamworth was 54 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In West Tamworth, of people aged 15 years and over, 33.0% of people were in a registered marriage and 11.0% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in West Tamworth was 53 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 30 years.

In West Tamworth 32.0% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.3% were in primary school, 19.6% in secondary school and 13.7% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in West Tamworth were Australian 38.3%, English 30.9%, Irish 8.1%, Scottish 5.8% and German 2.7%.

In West Tamworth, 87.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.0%, New Zealand 0.9%, Philippines 0.6%, Singapore 0.3% and Scotland 0.3%.

In West Tamworth, 86.6% of people had both parents born in Australia and 6.8% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in West Tamworth were Anglican 34.0%, Catholic 25.4%, No Religion 14.8%, Presbyterian and Reformed 4.5% and Uniting Church 4.2%.

In West Tamworth 92.3% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Tagalog 0.4%, Lao 0.2%, Korean 0.2%, Filipino 0.1% and Mandarin 0.1%.

Employment

There were 2,052 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in West Tamworth. Of these 53.7% were employed full time, 28.6% were employed part-time and 11.9% were unemployed.

Of employed people in West Tamworth, 11.0% worked 1 to 15 hours, 9.4% worked 16 to 24 hours and 40.1% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in West Tamworth was 39 years and for people who were employed part-time was 39 years.

The most common occupations in West Tamworth included Labourers 24.1%, Technicians and Trades Workers 16.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.4%, Professionals 11.8%, Sales Workers 11.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.0%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 6.9% and Managers 5.7%.

Of the employed people in West Tamworth, the most common responses for industry of employment included Meat and Meat Product Manufacturing 7.2%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 5.5%, Hospitals 3.9%, School Education 3.9% and Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.4%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in West Tamworth was $414.

In West Tamworth, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 63.7%, Car, as passenger 10.3%, Walked only 5.7%, Truck 1.7% and Motorbike/scooter 1.2%. 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 74.5% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In West Tamworth, of people aged 15 years and over, 63.1% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 27.1% 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, 14.3% 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 West Tamworth, 22.1% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.2% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in West Tamworth, 28.9% were couple families with children, 31.6% were couple families without children and 36.4% were one parent families.

In West Tamworth 14.0% of single parents were male and 86.0% were female.

Weekly incomes

In West Tamworth, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,715 and those without children was $1,555.

Employment status of couple families

In West Tamworth, of couple families with children, 17.5% had both partners employed full-time, 3.3% had both employed part-time and 15.7% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In West Tamworth, 89.3% of private dwellings were occupied and 10.7% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Tamworth, 80.6% were separate houses, 8.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 10.5% were flats, units or apartments and 0.1% were other dwellings.

In West Tamworth, of occupied private dwellings 5.3% had 1 bedroom, 22.3% had 2 bedrooms and 55.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.8. The average household size was 2.4 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Tamworth, 25.4% were owned outright, 20.8% were owned with a mortgage and 49.2% were rented.

Household composition

In West Tamworth, of all households, 62.8% were family households, 33.4% were single person households and 3.8% were group households.

In West Tamworth, 40.7% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 1.8% 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 West Tamworth, 45.3% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 25.0% had two registered motor vehicles and 8.2% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In West Tamworth, there were 1,063 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 516 (or 48.5%) were male and 547 (or 51.5%) were female. The median age was 17 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 West Tamworth, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.1, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $635.

In West Tamworth, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $185 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,473.