Merbein

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 1,932 people in Merbein of these 48.1% were male and 51.9% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.1% of the population.

The median age of people in Merbein was 45 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 17.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 22.9% of the population.

Of people in Merbein aged 15 years and over, 41.6% were married and 14.6% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Merbein was 57 years and the median age of people never married was 26 years.

In Merbein, of people aged 15 years and over, 42.0% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.7% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Merbein was 55 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 42 years.

In Merbein 26.2% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 28.2% were in primary school, 27.6% in secondary school and 10.1% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Merbein were English 34.9%, Australian 32.7%, Scottish 8.1%, Irish 7.3% and German 4.4%.

In Merbein, 88.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.7%, New Zealand 0.9%, Italy 0.8%, Germany 0.4% and Philippines 0.3%.

In Merbein, 82.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 8.9% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Merbein were No Religion 27.7%, Catholic 21.4%, Anglican 20.1%, Uniting Church 10.0% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.6%.

In Merbein 94.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 1.0%, Portuguese 0.2%, German 0.2%, Greek 0.2% and Croatian 0.2%.

Employment

There were 782 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Merbein. Of these 51.5% were employed full time, 31.5% were employed part-time and 10.4% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Merbein, 10.4% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 36.8% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Merbein was 46 years and for people who were employed part-time was 44 years.

The most common occupations in Merbein included Labourers 18.3%, Technicians and Trades Workers 14.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 13.0%, Sales Workers 11.3%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 11.1%, Professionals 10.6%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.4% and Managers 8.1%.

Of the employed people in Merbein, the most common responses for industry of employment included Supermarket and Grocery Stores 7.3%, Fruit and Tree Nut Growing 6.3%, Road Freight Transport 5.4%, School Education 5.2% and Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.0%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Merbein was $378.

In Merbein, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 71.4%, Car, as passenger 6.9%, Walked only 4.4%, Bus 1.1% and Truck 1.0%. On the day, 1.4% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 77.7% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Merbein, of people aged 15 years and over, 62.0% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 24.2% provided care for children and 13.6% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 20.0% 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 Merbein, 21.9% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.6% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Merbein, 31.2% were couple families with children, 42.1% were couple families without children and 26.1% were one parent families.

In Merbein 15.6% of single parents were male and 84.4% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Merbein, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,519 and those without children was $1,478.

Employment status of couple families

In Merbein, of couple families with children, 14.5% had both partners employed full-time, 3.6% had both employed part-time and 20.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Merbein, 89.7% of private dwellings were occupied and 10.3% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merbein, 92.2% were separate houses, 0.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 3.7% were flats, units or apartments and 4.2% were other dwellings.

In Merbein, of occupied private dwellings 5.2% had 1 bedroom, 22.6% had 2 bedrooms and 50.7% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.8. The average household size was 2.3 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merbein, 36.5% were owned outright, 32.5% were owned with a mortgage and 26.2% were rented.

Household composition

In Merbein, of all households, 65.3% were family households, 32.0% were single person households and 2.6% were group households.

In Merbein, 42.7% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 1.7% 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 Merbein, 37.5% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 33.0% had two registered motor vehicles and 13.5% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Merbein, there were 121 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 64 (or 52.9%) were male and 57 (or 47.1%) were female. The median age was 20 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 Merbein, 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 $660.

In Merbein, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $195 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,000.