Wollongong

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 16,718 people in Wollongong of these 51.4% were male and 48.6% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.4% of the population.

The median age of people in Wollongong was 32 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 10.0% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.8% of the population.

Of people in Wollongong aged 15 years and over, 33.7% were married and 12.1% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Wollongong was 52 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Wollongong, of people aged 15 years and over, 33.6% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.3% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Wollongong was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 28 years.

In Wollongong 36.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 9.8% were in primary school, 7.9% in secondary school and 52.5% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Wollongong were English 21.9%, Australian 18.9%, Irish 7.5%, Chinese 6.2% and Scottish 5.8%.

In Wollongong, 58.2% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 6.6%, England 3.1%, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) 2.0%, India 1.3% and New Zealand 1.2%.

In Wollongong, 41.9% of people had both parents born in Australia and 46.2% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Wollongong were No Religion 24.4%, Catholic 21.8%, Anglican 13.5%, Eastern Orthodox 8.5% and Islam 4.7%.

In Wollongong 62.3% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 4.7%, Macedonian 3.3%, Arabic 2.7%, Serbian 2.0% and Italian 1.8%.

Employment

There were 8,142 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Wollongong. Of these 55.0% were employed full time, 29.5% were employed part-time and 9.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Wollongong, 12.7% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.3% worked 16 to 24 hours and 41.7% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Wollongong was 34 years and for people who were employed part-time was 28 years.

The most common occupations in Wollongong included Professionals 29.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.5%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.4%, Technicians and Trades Workers 11.3%, Managers 11.0%, Sales Workers 9.0%, Labourers 6.7% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 5.2%.

Of the employed people in Wollongong, the most common responses for industry of employment included Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 6.3%, Tertiary Education 5.4%, School Education 4.7%, Hospitals 4.6% and Basic Ferrous Metal Manufacturing 3.5%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Wollongong was $500.

In Wollongong, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 53.8%, Walked only 12.8%, Car, as passenger 5.2%, Train 3.9% and Bus 3.9%. On the day, 9.7% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 59.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Wollongong, of people aged 15 years and over, 64.6% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 17.6% provided care for children and 9.5% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 16.2% 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 Wollongong, 25.0% worked 5 to 14 hours, 8.5% worked 15 to 29 hours and 5.6% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Wollongong, 28.3% were couple families with children, 51.4% were couple families without children and 17.0% were one parent families.

In Wollongong 21.7% of single parents were male and 78.3% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Wollongong, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,361 and those without children was $2,163.

Employment status of couple families

In Wollongong, of couple families with children, 19.4% had both partners employed full-time, 4.1% had both employed part-time and 15.2% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Wollongong, 89.0% of private dwellings were occupied and 11.0% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Wollongong, 20.0% were separate houses, 10.6% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 68.6% were flats, units or apartments and 0.7% were other dwellings.

In Wollongong, of occupied private dwellings 10.0% had 1 bedroom, 49.6% had 2 bedrooms and 30.4% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.4. The average household size was 2 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Wollongong, 22.5% were owned outright, 17.1% were owned with a mortgage and 56.1% were rented.

Household composition

In Wollongong, of all households, 49.5% were family households, 36.8% were single person households and 13.7% were group households.

In Wollongong, 32.2% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 7.4% 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 Wollongong, 45.4% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 23.8% had two registered motor vehicles and 7.0% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Wollongong, there were 230 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 122 (or 53.0%) were male and 108 (or 47.0%) were female. The median age was 24 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 Wollongong, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.3, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,029.

In Wollongong, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $240 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,800.