Meekatharra

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 812 people in Meekatharra of these 48.6% were male and 51.4% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 47.4% of the population.

The median age of people in Meekatharra was 32 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 25.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 7.6% of the population.

Of people in Meekatharra aged 15 years and over, 28.3% were married and 12.0% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Meekatharra was 50 years and the median age of people never married was 33 years.

In Meekatharra, of people aged 15 years and over, 27.3% of people were in a registered marriage and 23.6% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Meekatharra was 51 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 40 years.

In Meekatharra 39.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 18.3% were in primary school, 12.7% in secondary school and 4.6% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Meekatharra were Australian 33.5%, English 17.4%, Australian Aboriginal 7.0%, Irish 4.1% and Scottish 3.2%.

In Meekatharra, 72.6% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.8%, New Zealand 1.7%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 1.0%, Scotland 0.7% and Finland 0.6%.

In Meekatharra, 78.8% of people had both parents born in Australia and 14.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Meekatharra were No Religion 29.9%, Seventh-day Adventist 10.5%, Catholic 9.2%, Anglican 8.9% and Christian, nfd 3.7%.

In Meekatharra 70.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Martu Wangka 2.3%, German 0.7%, Italian 0.4%, Hindi 0.4% and Punjabi 0.4%.

Employment

There were 295 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Meekatharra. Of these 63.4% were employed full time, 18.0% were employed part-time and 6.8% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Meekatharra, 4.1% worked 1 to 15 hours, 7.7% worked 16 to 24 hours and 54.2% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Meekatharra was 40 years and for people who were employed part-time was 53 years.

The most common occupations in Meekatharra included Professionals 18.2%, Community and Personal Service Workers 16.7%, Managers 13.0%, Technicians and Trades Workers 12.3%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 11.9%, Labourers 9.3%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 8.2% and Sales Workers 4.8%.

Of the employed people in Meekatharra, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 17.5%, Public Order and Safety Services 6.3%, Local Government Administration 5.9%, Hospitals 5.6% and Medical Services 4.5%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Meekatharra was $580.

In Meekatharra, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 43.1%, Walked only 32.7%, Car, as passenger 6.7%, Truck 2.2% and Other 1.9%. On the day, 0.0% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 50.0% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Meekatharra, of people aged 15 years and over, 51.7% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 23.0% provided care for children and 4.6% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 15.1% 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 Meekatharra, 21.7% worked 5 to 14 hours, 8.9% worked 15 to 29 hours and 7.1% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Meekatharra, 34.0% were couple families with children, 42.1% were couple families without children and 22.0% were one parent families.

In Meekatharra 7.9% of single parents were male and 92.1% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Meekatharra, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,833 and those without children was $2,055.

Employment status of couple families

In Meekatharra, of couple families with children, 21.0% had both partners employed full-time, 0.0% had both employed part-time and 14.3% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Meekatharra, 79.1% of private dwellings were occupied and 20.9% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Meekatharra, 78.9% were separate houses, 6.1% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 4.1% were flats, units or apartments and 6.5% were other dwellings.

In Meekatharra, of occupied private dwellings 7.3% had 1 bedroom, 12.1% had 2 bedrooms and 56.3% 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 Meekatharra, 17.8% were owned outright, 7.7% were owned with a mortgage and 67.6% were rented.

Household composition

In Meekatharra, of all households, 58.4% were family households, 36.7% were single person households and 4.9% were group households.

In Meekatharra, 25.5% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.7% 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 Meekatharra, 42.1% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 23.1% had two registered motor vehicles and 8.1% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Meekatharra, there were 384 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 175 (or 45.6%) were male and 209 (or 54.4%) were female. The median age was 26 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 Meekatharra, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.1, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $660.

In Meekatharra, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $125 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $417.