MAIN SOURCE OF INCOME (SA2)

When assessing the ways in which income types vary across regions, it can be useful to examine the proportion of earners in a region by their main income type.

The main source of income for the majority of earners in Australia (77.9%) in 2012-13 was employee income. Particularly prominent were the mining regions where employee incomes tended to be higher; it was less likely that earners would be earning more money from another income category.

Of all Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) regions in Australia (with 2,000 or more employees) over the 2012-13 financial year, Roxby Downs (South Australia) had the highest proportion of people whose main source of income was employee income (96.3%) followed by Newman and Ashburton (WA) with 95.9% and 95.0% respectively. The median age of employee income earners in these SA2 regions was 34, 35 and 37 years respectively, indicating a relatively young, working-age profile.

The Ashburton SA2 (WA) had the highest median employee income ($98,633) in Australia, with Roxby Downs (SA) and Newman (WA) also being prominent (with $84,478 and $81,766 respectively).

State/Territory	SA2 name	Percentage of earners (%)
SA	Roxby Downs	96.3
WA	Newman	95.9
WA	Ashburton (WA)	95.0
WA	South Hedland	94.6
NT	Bakewell	94.2
(a) Excludes persons who had more than one main source of income. See Explanatory Notes paragraph 24 for more information. (b) Excludes SA2s with less than 2,000 Employee income earners.

Of all SA2 regions in Australia, Toorak (Victoria) had the highest proportion of people whose main source of income was investment income (40.9%) followed by City Beach in Western Australia (37.8%) and Rose Bay - Vaucluse - Watsons Bay in New South Wales (36.7%). Toorak and Rose Bay - Vaucluse - Watsons Bay also recorded the highest medians for investment income in Australia ($11,735 and $8,595 respectively).

State/Territory	SA2 name	Percentage of earners (%)
VIC	Toorak	40.9
WA	City Beach	37.8
NSW	Rose Bay - Vaucluse - Watsons Bay	36.7
VIC	Brighton (Vic.)	36.6
VIC	Queenscliff	36.1
(a) Excludes persons who had more than one main source of income. See Explanatory Notes paragraph 24 for more information. (b) Excludes SA2s with less than 100 earners.

The age profile of people reporting any investment income tends to be higher. This higher age profile generally means people have had longer to build up their assets and investments. For example, the median age for Rose Bay - Vaucluse - Watsons Bay was 49 years compared with 52 years for both Toorak and City Beach. The median age for investment earners in Australia was 45 years, higher than for employee income (39 years) and slightly higher than for total income (42 years).

State/Territory	SA2 name	Percentage of earners (%)
WA	Kulin	29.9
WA	Gnowangerup	29.5
SA	Le Hunte - Elliston	28.1
NSW	Grenfell	26.5
WA	Dowerin	25.5
(a) Excludes persons who had more than one main source of income. See Explanatory Notes paragraph 24 for more information. (b) Excludes SA2s with less than 100 earners.

The SA2 regions of Kulin and Gnowangerup in Western Australia had the highest proportion of people whose main source of income was own unincorporated business income (at 29.9% and 29.5% respectively). Both regions are prominent agricultural centres specialising in wheat and cereal production, along with some tourism activity.

In terms of median own unincorporated business income, Gnowangerup was also prominent ($27,271). However, O'Malley ($38,774) in the ACT and Morawa ($36,468) in WA recorded the highest national medians for this income category.