South West Rocks

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 4,816 people in South West Rocks of these 49.2% were male and 50.8% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.5% of the population.

The median age of people in South West Rocks was 53 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 15.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 29.7% of the population.

Of people in South West Rocks aged 15 years and over, 52.7% were married and 14.6% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in South West Rocks was 62 years and the median age of people never married was 31 years.

In South West Rocks, of people aged 15 years and over, 53.1% of people were in a registered marriage and 9.5% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in South West Rocks was 61 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 43 years.

In South West Rocks 23.9% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.4% were in primary school, 22.3% in secondary school and 12.1% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in South West Rocks were English 33.8%, Australian 33.5%, Irish 9.8%, Scottish 6.5% and German 2.7%.

In South West Rocks, 86.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 3.2%, New Zealand 1.1%, Germany 0.6%, Scotland 0.5% and Netherlands 0.3%.

In South West Rocks, 79.8% of people had both parents born in Australia and 10.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in South West Rocks were Anglican 31.1%, Catholic 23.3%, No Religion 18.8%, Uniting Church 7.4% and Presbyterian and Reformed 4.3%.

In South West Rocks 93.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included German 0.2%, French 0.2%, Italian 0.2%, Czech 0.1% and Cantonese 0.1%.

Employment

There were 1,645 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in South West Rocks. Of these 48.0% were employed full time, 37.9% were employed part-time and 6.3% were unemployed.

Of employed people in South West Rocks, 15.6% worked 1 to 15 hours, 12.3% worked 16 to 24 hours and 33.0% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in South West Rocks was 45 years and for people who were employed part-time was 47 years.

The most common occupations in South West Rocks included Professionals 15.3%, Technicians and Trades Workers 14.5%, Community and Personal Service Workers 13.6%, Labourers 13.2%, Managers 13.1%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 12.5%, Sales Workers 11.8% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 4.6%.

Of the employed people in South West Rocks, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 6.2%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 5.1%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 4.4%, Pharmaceutical and Other Store-Based Retailing 3.7% and Accommodation 3.6%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in South West Rocks was $386.

In South West Rocks, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 61.2%, Walked only 6.4%, Car, as passenger 5.3%, Truck 1.1% and Other 0.8%. On the day, 0.9% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 67.1% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In South West Rocks, of people aged 15 years and over, 68.9% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 19.6% provided care for children and 14.8% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 20.5% 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 South West Rocks, 24.6% worked 5 to 14 hours, 15.3% worked 15 to 29 hours and 13.5% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in South West Rocks, 27.9% were couple families with children, 55.6% were couple families without children and 15.6% were one parent families.

In South West Rocks 18.9% of single parents were male and 81.1% were female.

Weekly incomes

In South West Rocks, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,757 and those without children was $1,415.

Employment status of couple families

In South West Rocks, of couple families with children, 10.2% had both partners employed full-time, 4.4% had both employed part-time and 13.7% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In South West Rocks, 77.8% of private dwellings were occupied and 22.2% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in South West Rocks, 86.4% were separate houses, 5.3% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 7.7% were flats, units or apartments and 0.5% were other dwellings.

In South West Rocks, of occupied private dwellings 2.3% had 1 bedroom, 20.9% had 2 bedrooms and 51.8% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3. The average household size was 2.2 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in South West Rocks, 49.9% were owned outright, 19.3% were owned with a mortgage and 27.7% were rented.

Household composition

In South West Rocks, of all households, 67.0% were family households, 30.8% were single person households and 2.2% were group households.

In South West Rocks, 41.8% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 2.2% 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 South West Rocks, 46.8% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 33.9% had two registered motor vehicles and 9.9% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In South West Rocks, there were 262 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 126 (or 48.1%) were male and 136 (or 51.9%) were female. The median age was 16 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 South West Rocks, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.2, with 1.2 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $816.

In South West Rocks, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $220 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,820.