Cook

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 47,572 people in Cook of these 51.5% were male and 48.5% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 36.2% of the population.

The median age of people in Cook was 34 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 24.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.4% of the population.

Of people in Cook aged 15 years and over, 37.7% were married and 10.8% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Cook was 51 years and the median age of people never married was 29 years.

In Cook, of people aged 15 years and over, 37.2% of people were in a registered marriage and 19.3% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Cook was 51 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 36 years.

In Cook 29.9% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 34.5% were in primary school, 17.8% in secondary school and 8.3% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Cook were Australian 23.5%, English 17.9%, Australian Aboriginal 11.9%, Torres Strait Islander 10.5% and Irish 5.5%.

In Cook, 81.2% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 2.3%, New Zealand 1.9%, Italy 1.3%, Sri Lanka 0.5% and Germany 0.5%.

In Cook, 74.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 16.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Cook were Anglican 23.5%, No Religion 19.2%, Catholic 19.2%, Uniting Church 6.0% and Pentecostal 4.7%.

In Cook 63.8% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) 8.3%, Wik Mungkan 2.8%, Italian 2.1%, Guugu Yimidhirr 2.0% and Kalaw Kawaw Ya/Kalaw Lagaw Ya 1.7%.

Employment

There were 21,150 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Cook. Of these 58.8% were employed full time, 26.9% were employed part-time and 7.2% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Cook, 8.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 7.9% worked 16 to 24 hours and 45.8% worked 40 hours or more.

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

The most common occupations in Cook included Labourers 16.8%, Technicians and Trades Workers 14.5%, Professionals 13.7%, Managers 13.2%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.6%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.9%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 8.2% and Sales Workers 7.4%.

Of the employed people in Cook, the most common responses for industry of employment included Local Government Administration 8.3%, School Education 6.5%, Accommodation 5.4%, Metal Ore Mining 4.3% and Hospitals 4.3%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Cook was $479.

In Cook, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 47.3%, Walked only 18.5%, Car, as passenger 8.2%, Bicycle 2.5% and Other 1.4%. 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 55.8% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Cook, of people aged 15 years and over, 67.9% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 30.6% provided care for children and 10.5% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 19.7% 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 Cook, 24.6% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.6% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Cook, 41.3% were couple families with children, 36.2% were couple families without children and 20.3% were one parent families.

In Cook 19.1% of single parents were male and 80.9% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Cook, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,798 and those without children was $1,709.

Employment status of couple families

In Cook, of couple families with children, 23.8% had both partners employed full-time, 4.6% had both employed part-time and 16.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Cook, 84.9% of private dwellings were occupied and 15.1% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Cook, 79.3% were separate houses, 6.1% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 10.6% were flats, units or apartments and 3.7% were other dwellings.

In Cook, of occupied private dwellings 7.3% had 1 bedroom, 22.3% had 2 bedrooms and 41.8% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.9. The average household size was 2.8 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Cook, 24.8% were owned outright, 20.7% were owned with a mortgage and 50.2% were rented.

Household composition

In Cook, of all households, 71.0% were family households, 25.1% were single person households and 3.8% were group households.

In Cook, 27.3% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.0% 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 Cook, 35.3% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 29.9% had two registered motor vehicles and 13.1% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Cook, there were 17,218 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 8,484 (or 49.3%) were male and 8,734 (or 50.7%) were female. The median age was 23 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 Cook, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.9, with 1.5 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $943.

In Cook, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $88 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,680.