Merredin

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 2,897 people in Merredin of these 52.9% were male and 47.1% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 6.4% of the population.

The median age of people in Merredin was 35 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 21.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.7% of the population.

Of people in Merredin aged 15 years and over, 47.5% were married and 11.9% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Merredin was 49 years and the median age of people never married was 24 years.

In Merredin, of people aged 15 years and over, 50.0% of people were in a registered marriage and 12.2% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Merredin was 49 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 29 years.

In Merredin 29.3% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 34.7% were in primary school, 18.3% in secondary school and 10.2% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Merredin were Australian 34.4%, English 29.7%, Scottish 6.3%, Irish 6.1% and Italian 3.1%.

In Merredin, 79.1% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 3.0%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 2.5%, New Zealand 2.3%, South Africa 0.9% and Scotland 0.8%.

In Merredin, 64.8% of people had both parents born in Australia and 21.0% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Merredin were No Religion 29.1%, Anglican 22.2%, Catholic 20.1%, Uniting Church 6.6% and Christian, nfd 3.2%.

In Merredin 88.6% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 0.9%, Mandarin 0.4%, Tagalog 0.4%, German 0.3% and Arabic 0.3%.

Employment

There were 1,416 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Merredin. Of these 65.7% were employed full time, 24.3% were employed part-time and 4.2% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Merredin, 7.9% worked 1 to 15 hours, 7.2% worked 16 to 24 hours and 53.7% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Merredin was 41 years and for people who were employed part-time was 42 years.

The most common occupations in Merredin included Technicians and Trades Workers 17.5%, Managers 15.5%, Professionals 13.7%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 11.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 11.6%, Labourers 11.3%, Community and Personal Service Workers 8.5% and Sales Workers 8.2%.

Of the employed people in Merredin, the most common responses for industry of employment included Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming 7.9%, School Education 7.9%, Hospitals 4.8%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.9% and Road Freight Transport 3.3%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Merredin was $593.

In Merredin, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 62.7%, Walked only 9.9%, Car, as passenger 5.4%, Truck 1.8% and Bus 1.3%. On the day, 1.7% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 68.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Merredin, of people aged 15 years and over, 67.7% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 26.5% provided care for children and 8.9% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 23.5% 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 Merredin, 24.4% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.8% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.5% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Merredin, 42.0% were couple families with children, 42.9% were couple families without children and 13.4% were one parent families.

In Merredin 30.6% of single parents were male and 69.4% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Merredin, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,108 and those without children was $1,979.

Employment status of couple families

In Merredin, of couple families with children, 24.6% had both partners employed full-time, 2.5% had both employed part-time and 21.8% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Merredin, 79.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 20.6% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merredin, 90.9% were separate houses, 6.1% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 1.1% were flats, units or apartments and 1.6% were other dwellings.

In Merredin, of occupied private dwellings 4.0% had 1 bedroom, 13.3% had 2 bedrooms and 49.4% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.2. The average household size was 2.3 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Merredin, 31.4% were owned outright, 31.5% were owned with a mortgage and 32.3% were rented.

Household composition

In Merredin, of all households, 65.8% were family households, 31.8% were single person households and 2.4% were group households.

In Merredin, 26.2% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.2% 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 Merredin, 33.0% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 36.4% had two registered motor vehicles and 18.8% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Merredin, there were 186 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 87 (or 46.8%) were male and 99 (or 53.2%) were female. The median age was 21 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 Merredin, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.4, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $949.

In Merredin, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $119 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,833.