Mount Isa

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 36,436 people in Mount Isa of these 53.7% were male and 46.3% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 21.1% of the population.

The median age of people in Mount Isa was 32 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 23.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 7.8% of the population.

Of people in Mount Isa aged 15 years and over, 41.0% were married and 11.3% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Mount Isa was 47 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In Mount Isa, of people aged 15 years and over, 41.0% of people were in a registered marriage and 18.5% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Mount Isa was 46 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 32 years.

In Mount Isa 31.1% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.6% were in primary school, 13.2% in secondary school and 8.9% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Mount Isa were Australian 31.7%, English 22.1%, Irish 7.3%, Australian Aboriginal 6.1% and Scottish 5.6%.

In Mount Isa, 76.9% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.0%, England 1.4%, Philippines 1.3%, South Africa 0.5% and Papua New Guinea 0.4%.

In Mount Isa, 76.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 14.8% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Mount Isa were Catholic 26.0%, No Religion 18.5%, Anglican 15.8%, Uniting Church 7.1% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.0%.

In Mount Isa 82.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Filipino 0.5%, Tagalog 0.5%, Afrikaans 0.4%, Italian 0.3% and German 0.2%.

Employment

There were 18,300 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Mount Isa. Of these 72.2% were employed full time, 16.1% were employed part-time and 4.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Mount Isa, 5.9% worked 1 to 15 hours, 4.5% worked 16 to 24 hours and 64.6% worked 40 hours or more.

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

The most common occupations in Mount Isa included Technicians and Trades Workers 18.3%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 15.7%, Labourers 13.6%, Managers 13.3%, Professionals 13.0%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.4%, Community and Personal Service Workers 7.9% and Sales Workers 5.4%.

Of the employed people in Mount Isa, the most common responses for industry of employment included Metal Ore Mining 19.3%, Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 10.5%, School Education 5.4%, Local Government Administration 4.6% and Hospitals 3.2%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Mount Isa was $749.

In Mount Isa, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 52.1%, Walked only 12.3%, Car, as passenger 8.2%, Other 2.3% and Bus 1.8%. 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 60.6% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Mount Isa, of people aged 15 years and over, 60.8% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 27.9% provided care for children and 6.9% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 18.9% 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 Mount Isa, 23.1% worked 5 to 14 hours, 9.5% worked 15 to 29 hours and 8.8% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Mount Isa, 44.9% were couple families with children, 37.5% were couple families without children and 15.5% were one parent families.

In Mount Isa 20.2% of single parents were male and 79.8% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Mount Isa, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,684 and those without children was $2,320.

Employment status of couple families

In Mount Isa, of couple families with children, 35.3% had both partners employed full-time, 2.2% had both employed part-time and 16.4% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Mount Isa, 85.5% of private dwellings were occupied and 14.5% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Mount Isa, 79.8% were separate houses, 3.8% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 10.1% were flats, units or apartments and 5.6% were other dwellings.

In Mount Isa, of occupied private dwellings 8.8% had 1 bedroom, 19.1% had 2 bedrooms and 44.3% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.9. The average household size was 2.7 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Mount Isa, 23.0% were owned outright, 26.0% were owned with a mortgage and 45.1% were rented.

Household composition

In Mount Isa, of all households, 70.0% were family households, 25.9% were single person households and 4.1% were group households.

In Mount Isa, 18.5% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 17.7% 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 Mount Isa, 32.2% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 33.1% had two registered motor vehicles and 18.9% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Mount Isa, there were 7,697 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 3,763 (or 48.9%) were male and 3,934 (or 51.1%) were female. The median age was 22 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 Mount Isa, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.7, with 1.5 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,067.

In Mount Isa, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $120 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,517.