Cairns

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 224,436 people in Cairns of these 49.8% were male and 50.2% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 10.3% of the population.

The median age of people in Cairns was 37 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 21.3% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.2% of the population.

Of people in Cairns aged 15 years and over, 44.4% were married and 13.6% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Cairns was 51 years and the median age of people never married was 28 years.

In Cairns, of people aged 15 years and over, 45.0% of people were in a registered marriage and 13.4% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Cairns was 50 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 37 years.

In Cairns 29.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.7% were in primary school, 20.4% in secondary school and 13.4% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Cairns were Australian 27.3%, English 25.3%, Irish 8.0%, Scottish 6.5% and Italian 4.6%.

In Cairns, 74.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 3.8%, New Zealand 3.0%, Papua New Guinea 1.0%, Philippines 0.8% and Italy 0.8%.

In Cairns, 62.2% of people had both parents born in Australia and 24.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Cairns were Catholic 25.6%, No Religion 23.9%, Anglican 17.7%, Uniting Church 4.9% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.4%.

In Cairns 83.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 1.3%, Japanese 1.0%, German 0.7%, Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) 0.3% and Tagalog 0.3%.

Employment

There were 110,591 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Cairns. Of these 58.6% were employed full time, 28.1% were employed part-time and 7.0% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Cairns, 9.8% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.6% worked 16 to 24 hours and 44.5% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Cairns was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 41 years.

The most common occupations in Cairns included Professionals 16.0%, Technicians and Trades Workers 15.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.3%, Managers 12.5%, Labourers 11.8%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.7%, Sales Workers 10.3% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 6.6%.

Of the employed people in Cairns, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 5.6%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.5%, Hospitals 4.0%, Accommodation 3.8% and Supermarket and Grocery Stores 2.9%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Cairns was $567.

In Cairns, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 62.7%, Car, as passenger 7.0%, Walked only 4.5%, Bicycle 1.9% and Bus 1.7%. On the day, 2.1% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 70.0% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Cairns, of people aged 15 years and over, 70.0% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 27.9% provided care for children and 10.0% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 18.7% 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 Cairns, 26.3% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.4% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Cairns, 39.4% were couple families with children, 40.6% were couple families without children and 18.6% were one parent families.

In Cairns 18.4% of single parents were male and 81.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Cairns, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,007 and those without children was $1,804.

Employment status of couple families

In Cairns, of couple families with children, 23.2% had both partners employed full-time, 4.0% had both employed part-time and 20.2% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Cairns, 88.1% of private dwellings were occupied and 11.9% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Cairns, 76.3% were separate houses, 5.8% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 15.9% were flats, units or apartments and 1.9% were other dwellings.

In Cairns, of occupied private dwellings 5.9% had 1 bedroom, 21.6% had 2 bedrooms and 41.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3. The average household size was 2.5 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Cairns, 28.0% were owned outright, 31.4% were owned with a mortgage and 37.1% were rented.

Household composition

In Cairns, of all households, 69.6% were family households, 26.0% were single person households and 4.4% were group households.

In Cairns, 26.3% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.1% 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 Cairns, 37.5% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 36.1% had two registered motor vehicles and 14.5% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Cairns, there were 23,121 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 10,966 (or 47.4%) were male and 12,155 (or 52.6%) 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 Cairns, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.4, with 1.4 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $908.

In Cairns, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $195 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,700.