Central West

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 196,742 people in Central West of these 50.0% were male and 50.0% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.3% of the population.

The median age of people in Central West was 39 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 20.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.9% of the population.

Of people in Central West aged 15 years and over, 49.1% were married and 12.0% were either divorced or separated.

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

In Central West, of people aged 15 years and over, 50.5% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.1% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Central West was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 35 years.

In Central West 30.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.8% were in primary school, 23.0% in secondary school and 16.3% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Central West were Australian 34.5%, English 31.1%, Irish 9.9%, Scottish 7.2% and German 2.7%.

In Central West, 86.9% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.9%, New Zealand 0.9%, Scotland 0.3%, Germany 0.3% and Philippines 0.3%.

In Central West, 81.9% of people had both parents born in Australia and 9.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Central West were Catholic 31.0%, Anglican 27.1%, No Religion 14.0%, Uniting Church 6.6% and Presbyterian and Reformed 4.6%.

In Central West 91.8% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 0.2%, German 0.2%, Arabic 0.2%, Cantonese 0.1% and Mandarin 0.1%.

Employment

There were 90,369 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Central West. Of these 60.2% were employed full time, 28.5% were employed part-time and 5.2% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Central West, 10.7% worked 1 to 15 hours, 9.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 47.0% worked 40 hours or more.

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

The most common occupations in Central West included Managers 16.0%, Professionals 15.5%, Technicians and Trades Workers 15.0%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 12.1%, Labourers 11.7%, Community and Personal Service Workers 9.8%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 9.5% and Sales Workers 8.7%.

Of the employed people in Central West, the most common responses for industry of employment included Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 7.7%, School Education 5.6%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.4%, Hospitals 3.0% and Coal Mining 2.6%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Central West was $496.

In Central West, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 63.6%, Car, as passenger 6.4%, Walked only 4.9%, Truck 1.8% and Other 0.7%. 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 70.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Central West, of people aged 15 years and over, 69.7% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 28.4% provided care for children and 11.8% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 21.8% 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 Central West, 25.1% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.2% worked 15 to 29 hours and 12.5% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Central West, 41.0% were couple families with children, 41.4% were couple families without children and 16.3% were one parent families.

In Central West 18.3% of single parents were male and 81.7% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Central West, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,076 and those without children was $1,768.

Employment status of couple families

In Central West, of couple families with children, 21.5% had both partners employed full-time, 3.5% had both employed part-time and 22.5% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Central West, 86.6% of private dwellings were occupied and 13.4% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Central West, 90.0% were separate houses, 4.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 4.3% were flats, units or apartments and 0.9% were other dwellings.

In Central West, of occupied private dwellings 3.3% had 1 bedroom, 16.2% had 2 bedrooms and 44.6% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2. The average household size was 2.5 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Central West, 37.8% were owned outright, 31.1% were owned with a mortgage and 27.3% were rented.

Household composition

In Central West, of all households, 69.5% were family households, 27.8% were single person households and 2.7% were group households.

In Central West, 30.8% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 7.1% 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 Central West, 33.9% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 36.1% had two registered motor vehicles and 18.6% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Central West, there were 10,516 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 5,319 (or 50.6%) were male and 5,197 (or 49.4%) 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 Central West, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.2, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $855.

In Central West, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $166 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,300.