Merrylands West

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 6,188 people in Merrylands West of these 47.8% were male and 52.2% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.7% of the population.

The median age of people in Merrylands West was 35 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 20.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.0% of the population.

Of people in Merrylands West aged 15 years and over, 47.5% were married and 12.2% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Merrylands West was 47 years and the median age of people never married was 24 years.

In Merrylands West, of people aged 15 years and over, 47.6% of people were in a registered marriage and 4.2% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Merrylands West was 47 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 35 years.

In Merrylands West 33.8% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 21.2% were in primary school, 19.1% in secondary school and 19.3% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Merrylands West were Australian 14.6%, Lebanese 12.9%, English 12.5%, Chinese 5.1% and Irish 4.2%.

In Merrylands West, 51.5% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Lebanon 6.2%, Afghanistan 2.6%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 2.5%, New Zealand 2.3% and India 2.0%.

In Merrylands West, 25.9% of people had both parents born in Australia and 63.7% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Merrylands West were Catholic 37.5%, Islam 14.4%, Anglican 10.4%, No Religion 7.7% and Eastern Orthodox 4.4%.

In Merrylands West 42.8% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 16.7%, Dari 2.6%, Mandarin 2.4%, Cantonese 2.1% and Italian 1.9%.

Employment

There were 2,557 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Merrylands West. Of these 60.7% were employed full time, 24.8% were employed part-time and 7.3% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Merrylands West, 9.0% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.6% worked 16 to 24 hours and 42.3% worked 40 hours or more.

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

The most common occupations in Merrylands West included Clerical and Administrative Workers 17.6%, Professionals 16.4%, Technicians and Trades Workers 15.9%, Labourers 10.4%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 10.2%, Sales Workers 9.7%, Community and Personal Service Workers 8.8% and Managers 8.6%.

Of the employed people in Merrylands West, the most common responses for industry of employment included Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.2%, Hospitals 3.6%, Depository Financial Intermediation 3.3%, School Education 3.1% and Road Freight Transport 2.6%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Merrylands West was $462.

In Merrylands West, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 59.7%, Train 5.8%, Car, as passenger 5.7%, Bus 4.1% and Train, bus 3.7%. On the day, 16.4% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 65.8% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Merrylands West, of people aged 15 years and over, 56.2% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 23.6% provided care for children and 9.7% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 10.0% 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 Merrylands West, 18.9% worked 5 to 14 hours, 8.7% worked 15 to 29 hours and 8.6% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Merrylands West, 47.0% were couple families with children, 29.3% were couple families without children and 21.3% were one parent families.

In Merrylands West 16.5% of single parents were male and 83.5% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Merrylands West, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,209 and those without children was $2,007.

Employment status of couple families

In Merrylands West, of couple families with children, 18.6% had both partners employed full-time, 2.7% had both employed part-time and 13.2% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Merrylands West, 92.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 7.6% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merrylands West, 48.2% were separate houses, 25.0% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 25.8% were flats, units or apartments and 0.7% were other dwellings.

In Merrylands West, of occupied private dwellings 6.7% had 1 bedroom, 33.2% had 2 bedrooms and 36.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.8. The average household size was 2.7 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merrylands West, 29.4% were owned outright, 28.3% were owned with a mortgage and 36.0% were rented.

Household composition

In Merrylands West, of all households, 69.6% were family households, 28.0% were single person households and 2.4% were group households.

In Merrylands West, 31.4% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.9% 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 Merrylands West, 40.0% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 28.9% had two registered motor vehicles and 11.6% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Merrylands West, there were 43 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 19 (or 44.2%) were male and 24 (or 55.8%) 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 Merrylands West, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.6, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $860.

In Merrylands West, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $368 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $729.