Wagga Wagga

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 89,194 people in Wagga Wagga of these 49.5% were male and 50.5% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.2% of the population.

The median age of people in Wagga Wagga was 37 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 20.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.5% of the population.

Of people in Wagga Wagga aged 15 years and over, 49.1% were married and 10.9% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Wagga Wagga was 52 years and the median age of people never married was 24 years.

In Wagga Wagga, of people aged 15 years and over, 50.7% of people were in a registered marriage and 9.5% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Wagga Wagga was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 33 years.

In Wagga Wagga 31.9% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.9% were in primary school, 21.0% in secondary school and 22.7% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Wagga Wagga were Australian 34.4%, English 29.8%, Irish 10.4%, Scottish 7.5% and German 4.2%.

In Wagga Wagga, 88.5% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.4%, New Zealand 0.7%, India 0.3%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 0.3% and South Africa 0.2%.

In Wagga Wagga, 83.9% of people had both parents born in Australia and 8.9% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Wagga Wagga were Catholic 32.8%, Anglican 25.8%, No Religion 13.5%, Uniting Church 6.0% and Presbyterian and Reformed 5.7%.

In Wagga Wagga 92.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 0.3%, Mandarin 0.3%, Cantonese 0.2%, German 0.1% and Italian 0.1%.

Employment

There were 43,190 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Wagga Wagga. Of these 61.3% were employed full time, 27.9% were employed part-time and 4.9% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Wagga Wagga, 10.9% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.5% worked 16 to 24 hours and 45.7% worked 40 hours or more.

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

The most common occupations in Wagga Wagga included Professionals 17.1%, Technicians and Trades Workers 15.5%, Managers 15.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 12.3%, Labourers 11.5%, Community and Personal Service Workers 10.9%, Sales Workers 9.6% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 6.4%.

Of the employed people in Wagga Wagga, the most common responses for industry of employment included Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 7.2%, School Education 5.2%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.1%, Defence 3.7% and Tertiary Education 3.6%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Wagga Wagga was $536.

In Wagga Wagga, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 65.4%, Car, as passenger 6.3%, Walked only 5.5%, Truck 1.4% and Other 1.1%. On the day, 0.7% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 71.9% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Wagga Wagga, of people aged 15 years and over, 71.4% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 28.6% provided care for children and 11.7% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 23.5% 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, 26.0% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.0% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.6% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Wagga Wagga, 41.4% were couple families with children, 40.9% were couple families without children and 16.1% were one parent families.

In Wagga Wagga 16.6% of single parents were male and 83.4% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Wagga Wagga, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,041 and those without children was $1,723.

Employment status of couple families

In Wagga Wagga, of couple families with children, 23.2% had both partners employed full-time, 3.2% had both employed part-time and 23.3% 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, 88.7% of private dwellings were occupied and 11.3% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Wagga Wagga, 88.0% were separate houses, 3.2% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 8.0% were flats, units or apartments and 0.7% were other dwellings.

In Wagga Wagga, of occupied private dwellings 2.3% had 1 bedroom, 16.6% had 2 bedrooms and 44.5% 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, 35.0% were owned outright, 32.6% were owned with a mortgage and 28.6% were rented.

Household composition

In Wagga Wagga, of all households, 69.9% were family households, 26.5% were single person households and 3.7% were group households.

In Wagga Wagga, 28.3% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.2% 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, 34.4% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 37.3% had two registered motor vehicles and 17.6% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Wagga Wagga, there were 3,782 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,940 (or 51.3%) were male and 1,842 (or 48.7%) were female. The median age was 21 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 $847.

In Wagga Wagga, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $180 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,400.