South Melbourne

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 9,317 people in South Melbourne of these 48.9% were male and 51.1% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.5% of the population.

The median age of people in South Melbourne was 37 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 11.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.7% of the population.

Of people in South Melbourne aged 15 years and over, 33.8% were married and 12.6% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in South Melbourne was 46 years and the median age of people never married was 31 years.

In South Melbourne, of people aged 15 years and over, 34.3% of people were in a registered marriage and 16.1% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in South Melbourne was 46 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 35 years.

In South Melbourne 27.2% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 15.0% were in primary school, 10.2% in secondary school and 32.8% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in South Melbourne were English 23.4%, Australian 17.9%, Irish 9.5%, Scottish 7.7% and Chinese 5.8%.

In South Melbourne, 58.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 4.7%, New Zealand 3.1%, Indonesia 2.3%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 2.2% and Greece 1.7%.

In South Melbourne, 42.9% of people had both parents born in Australia and 44.3% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in South Melbourne were No Religion 31.8%, Catholic 20.8%, Anglican 11.8%, Eastern Orthodox 5.2% and Uniting Church 2.9%.

In South Melbourne 68.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Greek 3.4%, Mandarin 2.9%, Russian 2.9%, Indonesian 2.0% and Cantonese 1.4%.

Employment

There were 5,258 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in South Melbourne. Of these 68.2% were employed full time, 21.7% were employed part-time and 5.0% were unemployed.

Of employed people in South Melbourne, 8.1% worked 1 to 15 hours, 6.8% worked 16 to 24 hours and 59.3% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in South Melbourne was 36 years and for people who were employed part-time was 39 years.

The most common occupations in South Melbourne included Professionals 41.2%, Managers 20.0%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.1%, Sales Workers 7.3%, Community and Personal Service Workers 6.5%, Technicians and Trades Workers 6.2%, Labourers 2.6% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 1.1%.

Of the employed people in South Melbourne, the most common responses for industry of employment included Legal and Accounting Services 5.1%, Architectural, Engineering and Technical Services 4.4%, Computer System Design and Related Services 4.3%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.2% and Depository Financial Intermediation 4.0%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in South Melbourne was $920.

In South Melbourne, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 34.7%, Tram 20.5%, Walked only 16.7%, Bicycle 4.2% and Car, as passenger 2.9%. On the day, 25.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 37.6% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In South Melbourne, of people aged 15 years and over, 69.6% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 18.7% provided care for children and 9.4% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 17.8% 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 South Melbourne, 26.0% worked 5 to 14 hours, 7.5% worked 15 to 29 hours and 5.2% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in South Melbourne, 28.7% were couple families with children, 52.9% were couple families without children and 14.8% were one parent families.

In South Melbourne 19.2% of single parents were male and 80.8% were female.

Weekly incomes

In South Melbourne, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $3,186 and those without children was $3,162.

Employment status of couple families

In South Melbourne, of couple families with children, 33.7% had both partners employed full-time, 3.2% had both employed part-time and 16.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In South Melbourne, 88.9% of private dwellings were occupied and 11.1% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in South Melbourne, 19.4% were separate houses, 29.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 49.2% were flats, units or apartments and 1.6% were other dwellings.

In South Melbourne, of occupied private dwellings 14.9% had 1 bedroom, 45.9% had 2 bedrooms and 30.4% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.3. The average household size was 2 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in South Melbourne, 21.1% were owned outright, 23.7% were owned with a mortgage and 53.0% were rented.

Household composition

In South Melbourne, of all households, 54.1% were family households, 36.7% were single person households and 9.2% were group households.

In South Melbourne, 23.7% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 21.9% 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 South Melbourne, 49.4% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 22.2% had two registered motor vehicles and 3.7% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In South Melbourne, there were 44 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 18 (or 40.9%) were male and 26 (or 59.1%) were female. The median age was 12 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 South Melbourne, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.2, with 1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,375.

In South Melbourne, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $150 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,200.