Parkes

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 10,026 people in Parkes of these 48.5% were male and 51.5% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.6% of the population.

The median age of people in Parkes was 38 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 22.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.3% of the population.

Of people in Parkes aged 15 years and over, 46.2% were married and 12.4% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Parkes was 53 years and the median age of people never married was 25 years.

In Parkes, of people aged 15 years and over, 46.6% of people were in a registered marriage and 11.2% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Parkes was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 32 years.

In Parkes 30.8% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.6% were in primary school, 24.3% in secondary school and 13.3% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Parkes were Australian 36.5%, English 31.6%, Irish 9.3%, Scottish 6.1% and German 2.7%.

In Parkes, 87.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 1.1%, New Zealand 0.5%, Philippines 0.4%, Scotland 0.3% and United States of America 0.2%.

In Parkes, 86.6% of people had both parents born in Australia and 6.8% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Parkes were Catholic 30.6%, Anglican 30.2%, No Religion 9.9%, Uniting Church 8.0% and Presbyterian and Reformed 4.3%.

In Parkes 91.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Cantonese 0.2%, Arabic 0.2%, Italian 0.1%, Tagalog 0.1% and Afrikaans 0.1%.

Employment

There were 4,313 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Parkes. Of these 60.5% were employed full time, 28.0% were employed part-time and 4.8% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Parkes, 11.3% worked 1 to 15 hours, 8.0% worked 16 to 24 hours and 46.8% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Parkes was 41 years and for people who were employed part-time was 40 years.

The most common occupations in Parkes included Technicians and Trades Workers 15.8%, Professionals 14.5%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.5%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 12.3%, Sales Workers 11.4%, Managers 10.6%, Labourers 10.2% and Community and Personal Service Workers 10.0%.

Of the employed people in Parkes, the most common responses for industry of employment included Metal Ore Mining 6.6%, School Education 5.8%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 4.0%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.7% and Residential Care Services 3.4%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Parkes was $485.

In Parkes, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 64.2%, Car, as passenger 7.9%, Walked only 5.9%, Truck 1.4% and Bus 1.0%. On the day, 1.4% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 72.2% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Parkes, of people aged 15 years and over, 67.0% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 28.2% provided care for children and 12.2% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 20.2% 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 Parkes, 23.9% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.8% worked 15 to 29 hours and 12.1% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Parkes, 39.6% were couple families with children, 39.0% were couple families without children and 20.2% were one parent families.

In Parkes 19.3% of single parents were male and 80.7% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Parkes, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,068 and those without children was $1,697.

Employment status of couple families

In Parkes, of couple families with children, 20.7% had both partners employed full-time, 2.8% had both employed part-time and 20.1% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Parkes, 91.5% of private dwellings were occupied and 8.5% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Parkes, 89.8% were separate houses, 4.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 4.4% were flats, units or apartments and 1.1% were other dwellings.

In Parkes, of occupied private dwellings 3.3% had 1 bedroom, 17.4% had 2 bedrooms and 46.4% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.1. The average household size was 2.4 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Parkes, 32.7% were owned outright, 30.7% were owned with a mortgage and 32.2% were rented.

Household composition

In Parkes, of all households, 67.5% were family households, 30.2% were single person households and 2.3% were group households.

In Parkes, 33.6% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 5.6% 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 Parkes, 39.0% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 33.8% had two registered motor vehicles and 12.8% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Parkes, there were 765 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 385 (or 50.3%) were male and 380 (or 49.7%) were female. The median age was 17 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 Parkes, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.1, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $766.

In Parkes, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $155 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,213.