Merrigum

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 672 people in Merrigum of these 50.4% were male and 49.6% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.0% of the population.

The median age of people in Merrigum was 38 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 18.2% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.1% of the population.

Of people in Merrigum aged 15 years and over, 49.7% were married and 13.3% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Merrigum was 53 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Merrigum, of people aged 15 years and over, 49.7% of people were in a registered marriage and 13.3% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Merrigum was 53 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 41 years.

In Merrigum 29.8% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 26.0% were in primary school, 23.5% in secondary school and 11.0% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Merrigum were Australian 32.6%, English 26.0%, Irish 8.2%, Scottish 7.7% and Italian 6.0%.

In Merrigum, 82.5% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 2.4%, India 1.6%, Italy 1.3%, New Zealand 0.9% and Philippines 0.9%.

In Merrigum, 71.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 18.0% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Merrigum were Catholic 29.4%, No Religion 24.4%, Anglican 12.5%, Uniting Church 9.8% and Islam 4.2%.

In Merrigum 87.8% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 2.2%, Albanian 1.5%, Arabic 1.5%, Dutch 0.6% and Thai 0.6%.

Employment

There were 332 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Merrigum. Of these 61.4% were employed full time, 24.1% were employed part-time and 7.8% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Merrigum, 8.3% worked 1 to 15 hours, 7.6% worked 16 to 24 hours and 53.8% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Merrigum was 46 years and for people who were employed part-time was 48 years.

The most common occupations in Merrigum included Managers 22.4%, Labourers 19.7%, Technicians and Trades Workers 16.1%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 10.2%, Professionals 8.9%, Community and Personal Service Workers 8.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 7.9% and Sales Workers 4.6%.

Of the employed people in Merrigum, the most common responses for industry of employment included Dairy Cattle Farming 11.6%, Fruit and Tree Nut Growing 7.6%, Fruit and Vegetable Processing 4.3%, School Education 4.0% and Hospitals 4.0%.

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

In Merrigum, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 62.3%, Car, as passenger 5.6%, Walked only 5.0%, Truck 3.0% and Train 1.3%. On the day, 1.0% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 68.8% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Merrigum, of people aged 15 years and over, 68.5% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 30.2% provided care for children and 10.4% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 23.6% 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 Merrigum, 22.7% worked 5 to 14 hours, 10.7% worked 15 to 29 hours and 14.0% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Merrigum, 46.3% were couple families with children, 39.9% were couple families without children and 13.8% were one parent families.

In Merrigum 30.4% of single parents were male and 69.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Merrigum, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,708 and those without children was $1,361.

Employment status of couple families

In Merrigum, of couple families with children, 19.3% had both partners employed full-time, 2.5% had both employed part-time and 24.2% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Merrigum, 90.3% of private dwellings were occupied and 9.7% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merrigum, 98.0% were separate houses, 0.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 0.0% were flats, units or apartments and 2.0% were other dwellings.

In Merrigum, of occupied private dwellings 3.6% had 1 bedroom, 14.1% had 2 bedrooms and 58.6% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3. The average household size was 2.6 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merrigum, 39.2% were owned outright, 40.4% were owned with a mortgage and 17.2% were rented.

Household composition

In Merrigum, of all households, 72.6% were family households, 25.4% were single person households and 2.0% were group households.

In Merrigum, 35.8% 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 Merrigum, 26.3% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 36.7% had two registered motor vehicles and 29.5% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Merrigum, there were 21 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 9 (or 42.9%) were male and 12 (or 57.1%) 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 Merrigum, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2, with 1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $966.

In Merrigum, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $0 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,842.