Bowen

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 8,604 people in Bowen of these 52.5% were male and 47.5% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.5% of the population.

The median age of people in Bowen was 39 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 18.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.2% of the population.

Of people in Bowen aged 15 years and over, 45.3% were married and 13.4% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Bowen was 52 years and the median age of people never married was 26 years.

In Bowen, of people aged 15 years and over, 46.2% of people were in a registered marriage and 12.9% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Bowen was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 36 years.

In Bowen 28.1% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 26.8% were in primary school, 16.6% in secondary school and 8.7% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Bowen were Australian 31.0%, English 26.2%, Irish 7.8%, Scottish 6.6% and German 4.0%.

In Bowen, 75.2% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 2.8%, England 2.5%, Korea, Republic of (South) 1.6%, Philippines 0.6% and Germany 0.5%.

In Bowen, 72.6% of people had both parents born in Australia and 17.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Bowen were Catholic 21.8%, Anglican 20.8%, No Religion 19.5%, Uniting Church 8.5% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.2%.

In Bowen 83.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Korean 1.5%, Tongan 0.5%, German 0.3%, Vietnamese 0.3% and Italian 0.3%.

Employment

There were 4,124 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Bowen. Of these 62.9% were employed full time, 25.0% were employed part-time and 5.5% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Bowen, 9.0% worked 1 to 15 hours, 6.3% worked 16 to 24 hours and 49.2% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Bowen was 41 years and for people who were employed part-time was 40 years.

The most common occupations in Bowen included Labourers 21.5%, Technicians and Trades Workers 17.0%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 11.6%, Managers 11.0%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.9%, Professionals 9.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 8.7% and Sales Workers 8.3%.

Of the employed people in Bowen, the most common responses for industry of employment included Mushroom and Vegetable Growing 8.6%, School Education 4.3%, Coal Mining 4.1%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.7% and Rail Freight Transport 3.6%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Bowen was $552.

In Bowen, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 61.7%, Car, as passenger 10.6%, Walked only 5.2%, Bus 2.4% and Truck 1.7%. On the day, 2.6% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 72.5% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Bowen, of people aged 15 years and over, 61.3% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 22.5% provided care for children and 8.8% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 17.1% 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 Bowen, 22.4% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.3% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Bowen, 38.1% were couple families with children, 44.8% were couple families without children and 15.9% were one parent families.

In Bowen 22.1% of single parents were male and 77.9% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Bowen, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,212 and those without children was $1,771.

Employment status of couple families

In Bowen, of couple families with children, 24.3% had both partners employed full-time, 3.2% had both employed part-time and 19.1% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Bowen, 88.0% of private dwellings were occupied and 12.0% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Bowen, 79.1% were separate houses, 3.3% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 11.5% were flats, units or apartments and 5.7% were other dwellings.

In Bowen, of occupied private dwellings 6.5% had 1 bedroom, 20.8% had 2 bedrooms and 43.3% 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 Bowen, 32.1% were owned outright, 25.0% were owned with a mortgage and 38.7% were rented.

Household composition

In Bowen, of all households, 68.2% were family households, 26.8% were single person households and 5.1% were group households.

In Bowen, 27.7% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 8.1% 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 Bowen, 36.1% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 37.2% had two registered motor vehicles and 15.2% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Bowen, there were 643 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 335 (or 52.1%) were male and 308 (or 47.9%) were female. The median age was 25 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 Bowen, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,215.

In Bowen, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $220 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,539.