Wagga Wagga

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 52,042 people in Wagga Wagga of these 48.2% were male and 51.8% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.8% of the population.

The median age of people in Wagga Wagga was 34 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 21.0% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.7% of the population.

Of people in Wagga Wagga aged 15 years and over, 46.0% were married and 11.1% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Wagga Wagga was 50 years and the median age of people never married was 24 years.

In Wagga Wagga, of people aged 15 years and over, 47.3% 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 Wagga Wagga was 50 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 31 years.

In Wagga Wagga 32.4% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.2% were in primary school, 20.6% in secondary school and 28.1% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Wagga Wagga were Australian 34.1%, English 29.0%, Irish 10.5%, Scottish 7.5% and German 4.0%.

In Wagga Wagga, 87.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.4%, New Zealand 0.7%, India 0.5%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 0.5% and South Africa 0.3%.

In Wagga Wagga, 81.6% of people had both parents born in Australia and 10.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Wagga Wagga were Catholic 33.8%, Anglican 23.7%, No Religion 15.0%, Presbyterian and Reformed 6.0% and Uniting Church 5.3%.

In Wagga Wagga 91.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 0.5%, Mandarin 0.5%, Cantonese 0.2%, Hindi 0.2% and German 0.2%.

Employment

There were 26,373 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Wagga Wagga. Of these 61.0% were employed full time, 27.8% were employed part-time and 5.3% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Wagga Wagga, 11.1% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.5% worked 16 to 24 hours and 44.0% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Wagga Wagga was 39 years and for people who were employed part-time was 38 years.

The most common occupations in Wagga Wagga included Professionals 19.9%, Technicians and Trades Workers 15.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.3%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.6%, Sales Workers 11.2%, Labourers 10.6%, Managers 10.2% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 5.7%.

Of the employed people in Wagga Wagga, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 5.2%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.9%, Tertiary Education 4.7%, Hospitals 3.9% and Defence 3.7%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Wagga Wagga was $580.

In Wagga Wagga, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 70.1%, Car, as passenger 7.1%, Walked only 3.7%, Truck 1.0% and Bicycle 1.0%. On the day, 0.8% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 77.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Wagga Wagga, of people aged 15 years and over, 73.3% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 28.9% provided care for children and 11.2% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 20.4% 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 Wagga Wagga, 27.8% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.8% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.2% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Wagga Wagga, 41.7% were couple families with children, 38.6% were couple families without children and 17.9% were one parent families.

In Wagga Wagga 16.0% of single parents were male and 84.0% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Wagga Wagga, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,157 and those without children was $1,881.

Employment status of couple families

In Wagga Wagga, of couple families with children, 24.3% had both partners employed full-time, 3.0% had both employed part-time and 24.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Wagga Wagga, 90.7% of private dwellings were occupied and 9.3% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Wagga Wagga, 83.6% were separate houses, 4.5% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 11.2% were flats, units or apartments and 0.5% were other dwellings.

In Wagga Wagga, of occupied private dwellings 2.2% had 1 bedroom, 18.2% had 2 bedrooms and 43.0% 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 Wagga Wagga, 29.1% were owned outright, 33.8% were owned with a mortgage and 33.6% were rented.

Household composition

In Wagga Wagga, of all households, 68.9% were family households, 26.2% were single person households and 4.9% were group households.

In Wagga Wagga, 24.8% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 7.2% 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 Wagga Wagga, 35.8% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 37.5% had two registered motor vehicles and 15.3% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Wagga Wagga, there were 2,511 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,221 (or 48.6%) were male and 1,290 (or 51.4%) were female. The median age was 19 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 Wagga Wagga, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.1, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $856.

In Wagga Wagga, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $190 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,473.