West Launceston

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 4,030 people in West Launceston of these 47.9% were male and 52.1% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.7% of the population.

The median age of people in West Launceston was 39 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 18.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.6% of the population.

Of people in West Launceston aged 15 years and over, 46.2% were married and 15.1% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in West Launceston was 50 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In West Launceston, of people aged 15 years and over, 46.1% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.5% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in West Launceston was 49 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 35 years.

In West Launceston 29.2% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 31.0% were in primary school, 20.5% in secondary school and 28.4% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in West Launceston were Australian 33.0%, English 31.6%, Irish 8.4%, Scottish 8.1% and German 3.2%.

In West Launceston, 84.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 3.4%, New Zealand 0.9%, Germany 0.6%, Netherlands 0.6% and Scotland 0.6%.

In West Launceston, 71.4% of people had both parents born in Australia and 15.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in West Launceston were No Religion 31.7%, Anglican 20.3%, Catholic 18.0%, Uniting Church 4.6% and Christian, nfd 4.0%.

In West Launceston 92.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included German 0.7%, Italian 0.5%, Dutch 0.4%, Russian 0.4% and Cantonese 0.2%.

Employment

There were 2,217 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in West Launceston. Of these 55.6% were employed full time, 35.2% were employed part-time and 4.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in West Launceston, 13.5% worked 1 to 15 hours, 11.4% worked 16 to 24 hours and 38.3% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in West Launceston was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 40 years.

The most common occupations in West Launceston included Professionals 27.1%, Technicians and Trades Workers 13.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.1%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.3%, Managers 11.4%, Sales Workers 10.7%, Labourers 7.9% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 3.7%.

Of the employed people in West Launceston, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 7.6%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 5.2%, State Government Administration 4.8%, Hospitals 4.2% and Tertiary Education 3.1%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in West Launceston was $594.

In West Launceston, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 65.8%, Car, as passenger 7.8%, Walked only 5.3%, Motorbike/scooter 1.0% and Bus 0.8%. On the day, 1.1% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 73.6% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In West Launceston, of people aged 15 years and over, 80.1% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 29.0% provided care for children and 11.4% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 22.9% 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 Launceston, 31.9% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.2% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.8% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in West Launceston, 42.4% were couple families with children, 39.2% were couple families without children and 17.4% were one parent families.

In West Launceston 19.5% of single parents were male and 80.5% were female.

Weekly incomes

In West Launceston, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,158 and those without children was $1,771.

Employment status of couple families

In West Launceston, of couple families with children, 21.0% had both partners employed full-time, 4.5% had both employed part-time and 25.9% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In West Launceston, 89.8% of private dwellings were occupied and 10.2% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Launceston, 83.1% were separate houses, 3.8% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 12.4% were flats, units or apartments and 0.7% were other dwellings.

In West Launceston, of occupied private dwellings 6.1% had 1 bedroom, 21.7% had 2 bedrooms and 46.6% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.9. The average household size was 2.3 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in West Launceston, 33.4% were owned outright, 38.3% were owned with a mortgage and 26.3% were rented.

Household composition

In West Launceston, of all households, 64.9% were family households, 30.1% were single person households and 5.0% were group households.

In West Launceston, 26.4% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.5% 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 Launceston, 38.3% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 37.2% had two registered motor vehicles and 16.0% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In West Launceston, there were 65 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 35 (or 53.8%) were male and 30 (or 46.2%) were female. The median age was 15 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 Launceston, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 2.8, with 1.1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $866.

In West Launceston, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $220 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,900.