Byron Bay

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 4,959 people in Byron Bay of these 49.4% were male and 50.6% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.3% of the population.

The median age of people in Byron Bay was 42 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 12.0% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.3% of the population.

Of people in Byron Bay aged 15 years and over, 29.8% were married and 17.5% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Byron Bay was 55 years and the median age of people never married was 30 years.

In Byron Bay, of people aged 15 years and over, 29.7% of people were in a registered marriage and 12.6% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Byron Bay was 54 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 43 years.

In Byron Bay 27.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 18.8% were in primary school, 15.3% in secondary school and 25.3% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Byron Bay were English 29.5%, Australian 23.1%, Irish 11.4%, Scottish 8.2% and German 3.9%.

In Byron Bay, 71.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 5.6%, New Zealand 2.9%, United States of America 1.3%, Germany 1.1% and Canada 0.8%.

In Byron Bay, 56.7% of people had both parents born in Australia and 26.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Byron Bay were No Religion 36.7%, Catholic 16.9%, Anglican 13.9%, Buddhism 3.9% and Uniting Church 3.5%.

In Byron Bay 85.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included German 1.2%, Italian 1.1%, French 1.0%, Spanish 0.6% and Japanese 0.6%.

Employment

There were 2,518 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Byron Bay. Of these 42.1% were employed full time, 43.1% were employed part-time and 8.7% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Byron Bay, 18.1% worked 1 to 15 hours, 13.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 32.6% worked 40 hours or more.

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

The most common occupations in Byron Bay included Professionals 22.7%, Managers 15.4%, Technicians and Trades Workers 14.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 13.9%, Sales Workers 10.2%, Labourers 9.7%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 8.9% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 3.5%.

Of the employed people in Byron Bay, the most common responses for industry of employment included Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 10.3%, Accommodation 9.0%, School Education 3.6%, Clothing, Footwear and Personal Accessory Retailing 3.3% and Building Cleaning, Pest Control and Gardening Services 2.3%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Byron Bay was $486.

In Byron Bay, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 47.9%, Walked only 8.8%, Bicycle 8.6%, Car, as passenger 3.9% and Other 1.3%. On the day, 0.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 52.0% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Byron Bay, of people aged 15 years and over, 70.8% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 21.5% 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, 23.8% 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 Byron Bay, 25.8% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.0% worked 15 to 29 hours and 7.3% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Byron Bay, 32.0% were couple families with children, 42.1% were couple families without children and 24.0% were one parent families.

In Byron Bay 15.4% of single parents were male and 84.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Byron Bay, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,641 and those without children was $1,420.

Employment status of couple families

In Byron Bay, of couple families with children, 13.9% had both partners employed full-time, 12.3% had both employed part-time and 18.8% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Byron Bay, 73.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 26.6% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Byron Bay, 60.3% were separate houses, 26.8% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 6.7% were flats, units or apartments and 5.6% were other dwellings.

In Byron Bay, of occupied private dwellings 8.7% had 1 bedroom, 21.5% had 2 bedrooms and 44.9% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.8. The average household size was 2.2 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Byron Bay, 32.3% were owned outright, 21.4% were owned with a mortgage and 41.4% were rented.

Household composition

In Byron Bay, of all households, 51.9% were family households, 34.0% were single person households and 14.0% were group households.

In Byron Bay, 32.8% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 4.9% 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 Byron Bay, 44.8% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 30.3% had two registered motor vehicles and 10.3% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Byron Bay, there were 65 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 34 (or 52.3%) were male and 31 (or 47.7%) were female. The median age was 31 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 Byron Bay, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.7, with 1.1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,042.

In Byron Bay, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $350 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $0.