Merrimac

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 6,321 people in Merrimac of these 47.6% were male and 52.4% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.2% of the population.

The median age of people in Merrimac was 34 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 21.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.5% of the population.

Of people in Merrimac aged 15 years and over, 42.1% were married and 15.3% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Merrimac was 47 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Merrimac, of people aged 15 years and over, 45.1% of people were in a registered marriage and 12.7% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Merrimac was 46 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 31 years.

In Merrimac 32.8% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 25.7% were in primary school, 21.5% in secondary school and 16.3% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Merrimac were English 27.0%, Australian 22.6%, Irish 6.6%, Scottish 6.4% and German 3.5%.

In Merrimac, 60.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 9.9%, England 4.5%, Japan 1.4%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 1.1% and South Africa 1.0%.

In Merrimac, 45.3% of people had both parents born in Australia and 40.5% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Merrimac were Catholic 22.6%, No Religion 22.4%, Anglican 17.2%, Christian, nfd 4.1% and Uniting Church 3.8%.

In Merrimac 78.3% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Japanese 2.0%, Cantonese 1.2%, Mandarin 1.0%, Italian 0.9% and Spanish 0.8%.

Employment

There were 3,179 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Merrimac. Of these 56.4% were employed full time, 30.9% were employed part-time and 6.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Merrimac, 11.9% worked 1 to 15 hours, 9.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 41.2% worked 40 hours or more.

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

The most common occupations in Merrimac included Technicians and Trades Workers 16.5%, Professionals 15.5%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 14.7%, Sales Workers 14.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.7%, Labourers 10.4%, Managers 9.3% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 5.6%.

Of the employed people in Merrimac, the most common responses for industry of employment included Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 6.0%, School Education 4.4%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.5%, Accommodation 3.4% and Hospitals 3.3%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Merrimac was $590.

In Merrimac, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 71.6%, Car, as passenger 5.5%, Bus 1.3%, Walked only 1.3% and Truck 0.9%. On the day, 3.1% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 77.2% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Merrimac, of people aged 15 years and over, 67.7% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 29.7% provided care for children and 8.1% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 13.9% 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 Merrimac, 26.3% worked 5 to 14 hours, 10.4% worked 15 to 29 hours and 8.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Merrimac, 44.6% were couple families with children, 31.7% were couple families without children and 21.7% were one parent families.

In Merrimac 11.8% of single parents were male and 88.2% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Merrimac, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,807 and those without children was $1,769.

Employment status of couple families

In Merrimac, of couple families with children, 22.0% had both partners employed full-time, 5.0% had both employed part-time and 22.7% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Merrimac, 92.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 7.6% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merrimac, 62.6% were separate houses, 36.2% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 0.9% were flats, units or apartments and 0.1% were other dwellings.

In Merrimac, of occupied private dwellings 0.0% had 1 bedroom, 7.4% had 2 bedrooms and 69.2% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2. The average household size was 2.7 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merrimac, 16.3% were owned outright, 40.7% were owned with a mortgage and 41.0% were rented.

Household composition

In Merrimac, of all households, 77.5% were family households, 16.3% were single person households and 6.2% were group households.

In Merrimac, 18.0% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 4.9% 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 Merrimac, 36.0% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 44.3% had two registered motor vehicles and 15.0% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Merrimac, there were 72 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 35 (or 48.6%) were male and 37 (or 51.4%) were female. The median age was 19 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 Merrimac, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.9, with 1.1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,325.

In Merrimac, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $370 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,560.