Palmerston

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 27,618 people in Palmerston of these 50.3% were male and 49.7% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 10.9% of the population.

The median age of people in Palmerston was 28 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 26.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 3.9% of the population.

Of people in Palmerston aged 15 years and over, 42.2% were married and 12.2% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Palmerston was 41 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Palmerston, of people aged 15 years and over, 42.3% of people were in a registered marriage and 19.2% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Palmerston was 41 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 31 years.

In Palmerston 34.5% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.6% were in primary school, 19.3% in secondary school and 13.4% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Palmerston were Australian 31.6%, English 24.9%, Irish 6.7%, Scottish 5.8% and German 4.0%.

In Palmerston, 75.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 2.9%, Philippines 2.1%, New Zealand 1.9%, India 0.8% and South Africa 0.6%.

In Palmerston, 64.1% of people had both parents born in Australia and 21.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Palmerston were No Religion 28.9%, Catholic 23.4%, Anglican 14.1%, Uniting Church 4.7% and Christian, nfd 2.3%.

In Palmerston 81.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Tagalog 1.0%, Filipino 0.8%, Greek 0.6%, Vietnamese 0.5% and Thai 0.4%.

Employment

There were 14,782 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Palmerston. Of these 70.6% were employed full time, 17.7% were employed part-time and 3.7% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Palmerston, 5.4% worked 1 to 15 hours, 4.9% worked 16 to 24 hours and 51.7% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Palmerston was 36 years and for people who were employed part-time was 35 years.

The most common occupations in Palmerston included Clerical and Administrative Workers 18.2%, Technicians and Trades Workers 17.3%, Community and Personal Service Workers 15.7%, Professionals 13.1%, Managers 11.0%, Sales Workers 8.2%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 7.6% and Labourers 7.2%.

Of the employed people in Palmerston, the most common responses for industry of employment included Defence 10.1%, State Government Administration 6.9%, School Education 4.6%, Public Order and Safety Services 4.4% and Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.1%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Palmerston was $913.

In Palmerston, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 67.7%, Car, as passenger 7.3%, Bus 3.2%, Walked only 2.3% and Motorbike/scooter 1.5%. On the day, 3.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 75.5% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Palmerston, of people aged 15 years and over, 70.5% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 33.8% provided care for children and 7.3% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 14.6% 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 Palmerston, 29.3% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.0% worked 15 to 29 hours and 8.1% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Palmerston, 49.7% were couple families with children, 30.9% were couple families without children and 18.0% were one parent families.

In Palmerston 19.9% of single parents were male and 80.1% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Palmerston, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,482 and those without children was $2,278.

Employment status of couple families

In Palmerston, of couple families with children, 38.4% had both partners employed full-time, 2.3% had both employed part-time and 17.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Palmerston, 92.1% of private dwellings were occupied and 7.9% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Palmerston, 77.1% were separate houses, 10.8% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 11.5% were flats, units or apartments and 0.5% were other dwellings.

In Palmerston, of occupied private dwellings 3.4% had 1 bedroom, 16.0% had 2 bedrooms and 50.8% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.1. The average household size was 2.9 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Palmerston, 8.4% were owned outright, 42.2% were owned with a mortgage and 46.9% were rented.

Household composition

In Palmerston, of all households, 77.4% were family households, 17.5% were single person households and 5.1% were group households.

In Palmerston, 12.1% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 15.6% 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 Palmerston, 30.0% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 43.4% had two registered motor vehicles and 17.5% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Palmerston, there were 3,000 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 1,410 (or 47.0%) were male and 1,590 (or 53.0%) 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 Palmerston, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.3, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,390.

In Palmerston, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $250 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,275.