West Mackay

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 6,507 people in West Mackay of these 49.6% were male and 50.4% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.3% of the population.

The median age of people in West Mackay was 38 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 18.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 17.9% of the population.

Of people in West Mackay aged 15 years and over, 44.5% were married and 13.2% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in West Mackay was 49 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In West Mackay, of people aged 15 years and over, 44.1% of people were in a registered marriage and 11.4% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in West Mackay was 49 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 31 years.

In West Mackay 25.3% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 30.6% were in primary school, 21.1% in secondary school and 14.9% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in West Mackay were Australian 29.4%, English 27.0%, Irish 9.4%, Scottish 7.2% and German 4.6%.

In West Mackay, 81.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Philippines 2.5%, New Zealand 2.2%, England 1.6%, South Africa 0.9% and India 0.5%.

In West Mackay, 73.0% of people had both parents born in Australia and 16.8% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in West Mackay were Catholic 35.3%, Anglican 17.1%, No Religion 15.9%, Uniting Church 10.1% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.3%.

In West Mackay 87.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Tagalog 1.5%, Filipino 0.6%, Italian 0.5%, Afrikaans 0.4% and Maltese 0.3%.

Employment

There were 3,297 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in West Mackay. Of these 67.8% were employed full time, 23.6% were employed part-time and 3.5% were unemployed.

Of employed people in West Mackay, 8.4% worked 1 to 15 hours, 6.8% worked 16 to 24 hours and 52.0% worked 40 hours or more.

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

The most common occupations in West Mackay included Technicians and Trades Workers 21.9%, Professionals 16.2%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.3%, Labourers 10.6%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 10.4%, Managers 8.8%, Community and Personal Service Workers 8.7% and Sales Workers 8.6%.

Of the employed people in West Mackay, the most common responses for industry of employment included Coal Mining 5.4%, School Education 5.1%, Hospitals 4.7%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.2% and Accommodation 2.7%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in West Mackay was $670.

In West Mackay, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 64.9%, Car, as passenger 7.8%, Walked only 5.0%, Bicycle 2.9% and Bus 2.2%. On the day, 2.5% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 73.1% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In West Mackay, of people aged 15 years and over, 66.2% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 26.8% provided care for children and 9.6% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 15.8% 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 West Mackay, 24.5% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.3% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.2% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in West Mackay, 40.4% were couple families with children, 40.1% were couple families without children and 17.3% were one parent families.

In West Mackay 13.7% of single parents were male and 86.3% were female.

Weekly incomes

In West Mackay, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,460 and those without children was $2,218.

Employment status of couple families

In West Mackay, of couple families with children, 25.9% had both partners employed full-time, 2.3% had both employed part-time and 20.4% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In West Mackay, 91.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 8.6% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Mackay, 79.8% were separate houses, 7.2% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 11.6% were flats, units or apartments and 1.0% were other dwellings.

In West Mackay, of occupied private dwellings 5.4% had 1 bedroom, 22.1% had 2 bedrooms and 47.6% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.9. The average household size was 2.4 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Mackay, 31.7% were owned outright, 28.4% were owned with a mortgage and 36.4% were rented.

Household composition

In West Mackay, of all households, 65.5% were family households, 29.4% were single person households and 5.1% were group households.

In West Mackay, 24.8% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 12.7% 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 Mackay, 37.2% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 34.2% had two registered motor vehicles and 15.1% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In West Mackay, there were 214 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 112 (or 52.3%) were male and 102 (or 47.7%) were female. The median age was 23 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 Mackay, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.3, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,062.

In West Mackay, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $340 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,100.