Northam

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 6,580 people in Northam of these 49.0% were male and 51.0% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.1% of the population.

The median age of people in Northam was 38 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 22.3% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.7% of the population.

Of people in Northam aged 15 years and over, 46.9% were married and 13.2% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Northam was 53 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Northam, of people aged 15 years and over, 47.9% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.3% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Northam was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 34 years.

In Northam 31.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.7% were in primary school, 17.1% in secondary school and 9.9% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Northam were Australian 32.8%, English 30.3%, Irish 5.6%, Scottish 5.5% and German 2.5%.

In Northam, 75.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 4.2%, New Zealand 1.8%, Philippines 1.1%, Germany 0.8% and South Africa 0.7%.

In Northam, 64.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 21.5% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Northam were Catholic 23.3%, No Religion 23.1%, Anglican 20.7%, Uniting Church 4.1% and Christian, nfd 3.4%.

In Northam 84.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Polish 0.7%, Afrikaans 0.5%, Filipino 0.5%, Tagalog 0.5% and German 0.4%.

Employment

There were 2,829 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Northam. Of these 57.2% were employed full time, 28.5% were employed part-time and 7.1% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Northam, 10.3% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.5% worked 16 to 24 hours and 44.6% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Northam was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 43 years.

The most common occupations in Northam included Technicians and Trades Workers 17.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 15.0%, Professionals 13.3%, Labourers 13.2%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.4%, Managers 10.5%, Sales Workers 9.7% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 8.4%.

Of the employed people in Northam, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 7.4%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.3%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.6%, Hospitals 3.5% and Public Order and Safety Services 3.3%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Northam was $516.

In Northam, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 64.2%, Car, as passenger 7.7%, Walked only 6.2%, Truck 1.3% and Other 1.0%. On the day, 1.0% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 72.1% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Northam, of people aged 15 years and over, 64.1% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 26.2% provided care for children and 11.4% 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 Northam, 23.2% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.6% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.4% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Northam, 39.4% were couple families with children, 40.3% were couple families without children and 18.6% were one parent families.

In Northam 21.0% of single parents were male and 79.0% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Northam, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,139 and those without children was $2,007.

Employment status of couple families

In Northam, of couple families with children, 17.7% had both partners employed full-time, 4.5% had both employed part-time and 18.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Northam, 85.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 14.6% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Northam, 89.8% were separate houses, 2.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 5.1% were flats, units or apartments and 2.3% were other dwellings.

In Northam, of occupied private dwellings 3.3% had 1 bedroom, 18.0% had 2 bedrooms and 44.3% 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 Northam, 33.6% were owned outright, 32.9% were owned with a mortgage and 29.3% were rented.

Household composition

In Northam, of all households, 68.3% were family households, 28.7% were single person households and 3.0% were group households.

In Northam, 31.4% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.7% 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 Northam, 34.5% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 33.9% had two registered motor vehicles and 18.8% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Northam, there were 467 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 213 (or 45.6%) were male and 254 (or 54.4%) were female. The median age was 15 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 Northam, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.6, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $700.

In Northam, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $134 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $802.