Meridan Plains

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 1,699 people in Meridan Plains of these 46.6% were male and 53.4% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.4% of the population.

The median age of people in Meridan Plains was 39 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 22.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 26.7% of the population.

Of people in Meridan Plains aged 15 years and over, 64.9% were married and 10.4% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Meridan Plains was 55 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Meridan Plains, of people aged 15 years and over, 65.3% of people were in a registered marriage and 11.6% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Meridan Plains was 55 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 33 years.

In Meridan Plains 24.9% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 41.2% were in primary school, 18.8% in secondary school and 14.6% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Meridan Plains were English 35.2%, Australian 30.7%, Scottish 9.0%, Irish 7.6% and German 2.7%.

In Meridan Plains, 72.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 11.9%, New Zealand 4.9%, Scotland 1.4%, Netherlands 1.1% and Germany 0.7%.

In Meridan Plains, 58.6% of people had both parents born in Australia and 28.1% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Meridan Plains were Anglican 25.6%, No Religion 23.4%, Catholic 18.9%, Uniting Church 6.6% and Presbyterian and Reformed 4.9%.

In Meridan Plains 95.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Dutch 0.6%, Italian 0.4%, German 0.2%, French 0.2% and Japanese 0.2%.

Employment

There were 685 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Meridan Plains. Of these 57.5% were employed full time, 30.8% were employed part-time and 6.0% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Meridan Plains, 10.7% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.7% worked 16 to 24 hours and 44.5% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Meridan Plains was 37 years and for people who were employed part-time was 39 years.

The most common occupations in Meridan Plains included Professionals 18.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 16.4%, Managers 15.0%, Technicians and Trades Workers 15.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 10.2%, Sales Workers 9.6%, Labourers 8.7% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 5.7%.

Of the employed people in Meridan Plains, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 6.4%, Hospitals 5.0%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.6%, Pharmaceutical and Other Store-Based Retailing 3.3% and Supermarket and Grocery Stores 2.6%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Meridan Plains was $501.

In Meridan Plains, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 72.1%, Car, as passenger 5.6%, Walked only 1.9%, Truck 1.5% and Motorbike/scooter 1.1%. On the day, 1.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 77.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Meridan Plains, of people aged 15 years and over, 78.3% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 32.9% provided care for children and 9.8% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 18.2% 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 Meridan Plains, 28.1% worked 5 to 14 hours, 17.6% worked 15 to 29 hours and 13.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Meridan Plains, 38.6% were couple families with children, 52.4% were couple families without children and 8.1% were one parent families.

In Meridan Plains 6.8% of single parents were male and 93.2% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Meridan Plains, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,989 and those without children was $2,012.

Employment status of couple families

In Meridan Plains, of couple families with children, 14.2% had both partners employed full-time, 3.5% had both employed part-time and 16.5% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Meridan Plains, 94.0% of private dwellings were occupied and 6.0% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Meridan Plains, 84.0% were separate houses, 16.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 0.0% were flats, units or apartments and 0.0% were other dwellings.

In Meridan Plains, of occupied private dwellings 0.6% had 1 bedroom, 28.8% had 2 bedrooms and 28.7% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.1. The average household size was 2.5 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Meridan Plains, 37.5% were owned outright, 31.8% were owned with a mortgage and 22.4% were rented.

Household composition

In Meridan Plains, of all households, 79.9% were family households, 18.0% were single person households and 2.1% were group households.

In Meridan Plains, 27.1% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 4.5% 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 Meridan Plains, 48.3% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 38.3% had two registered motor vehicles and 8.6% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Meridan Plains, there were 8 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 5 (or 62.5%) were male and 3 (or 37.5%) were female. The median age was 32 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 Meridan Plains, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 5, with 1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $900.

In Meridan Plains, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $385 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $0.