West Wollongong

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 4,447 people in West Wollongong of these 49.1% were male and 50.9% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.3% of the population.

The median age of people in West Wollongong was 35 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 20.0% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.1% of the population.

Of people in West Wollongong aged 15 years and over, 48.7% were married and 10.9% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in West Wollongong was 49 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In West Wollongong, of people aged 15 years and over, 49.1% of people were in a registered marriage and 7.5% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in West Wollongong was 48 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 31 years.

In West Wollongong 34.7% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 24.9% were in primary school, 13.8% in secondary school and 33.4% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in West Wollongong were Australian 25.9%, English 22.0%, Irish 8.2%, Scottish 6.8% and Italian 3.9%.

In West Wollongong, 70.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 3.2%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 2.4%, Croatia 1.1%, Scotland 1.0% and New Zealand 0.9%.

In West Wollongong, 50.6% of people had both parents born in Australia and 35.1% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in West Wollongong were Catholic 28.7%, No Religion 18.8%, Anglican 17.5%, Eastern Orthodox 8.3% and Uniting Church 4.2%.

In West Wollongong 73.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Serbian 2.5%, Greek 2.2%, Mandarin 2.1%, Macedonian 1.5% and Arabic 1.5%.

Employment

There were 2,036 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in West Wollongong. Of these 57.2% were employed full time, 31.2% were employed part-time and 6.7% were unemployed.

Of employed people in West Wollongong, 12.4% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 41.0% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in West Wollongong was 40 years and for people who were employed part-time was 37 years.

The most common occupations in West Wollongong included Professionals 27.4%, Technicians and Trades Workers 15.6%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 14.6%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.2%, Managers 10.5%, Sales Workers 7.4%, Labourers 6.8% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 5.3%.

Of the employed people in West Wollongong, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 7.4%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 6.1%, Tertiary Education 5.6%, Hospitals 4.2% and Basic Ferrous Metal Manufacturing 4.0%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in West Wollongong was $507.

In West Wollongong, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 64.0%, Car, as passenger 6.0%, Walked only 2.9%, Bus 2.7% and Train 1.8%. On the day, 6.6% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 70.7% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In West Wollongong, of people aged 15 years and over, 73.7% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 30.8% provided care for children and 13.5% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 18.3% 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 West Wollongong, 26.9% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.8% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.3% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in West Wollongong, 43.4% were couple families with children, 37.2% were couple families without children and 17.4% were one parent families.

In West Wollongong 17.6% of single parents were male and 82.4% were female.

Weekly incomes

In West Wollongong, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,303 and those without children was $2,056.

Employment status of couple families

In West Wollongong, of couple families with children, 18.1% had both partners employed full-time, 3.5% had both employed part-time and 23.2% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In West Wollongong, 93.7% of private dwellings were occupied and 6.3% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Wollongong, 69.9% were separate houses, 16.5% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 13.1% were flats, units or apartments and 0.5% were other dwellings.

In West Wollongong, of occupied private dwellings 5.3% had 1 bedroom, 23.1% had 2 bedrooms and 49.4% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.9. The average household size was 2.5 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Wollongong, 34.4% were owned outright, 31.5% were owned with a mortgage and 31.5% were rented.

Household composition

In West Wollongong, of all households, 67.7% were family households, 27.0% were single person households and 5.3% were group households.

In West Wollongong, 28.7% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 8.5% 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 West Wollongong, 41.6% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 33.4% had two registered motor vehicles and 10.5% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In West Wollongong, there were 61 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 32 (or 52.5%) were male and 29 (or 47.5%) 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 West Wollongong, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.3, with 1.1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $939.

In West Wollongong, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $200 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,275.