Charters Towers

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 8,234 people in Charters Towers of these 48.6% were male and 51.4% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 10.1% of the population.

The median age of people in Charters Towers was 37 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 22.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.6% of the population.

Of people in Charters Towers aged 15 years and over, 44.2% were married and 12.3% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Charters Towers was 53 years and the median age of people never married was 26 years.

In Charters Towers, of people aged 15 years and over, 45.4% of people were in a registered marriage and 12.8% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Charters Towers was 53 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 33 years.

In Charters Towers 31.6% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.3% were in primary school, 26.7% in secondary school and 9.1% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Charters Towers were Australian 36.2%, English 28.3%, Irish 8.3%, Scottish 6.7% and German 4.0%.

In Charters Towers, 86.5% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 1.6%, England 1.3%, Philippines 0.5%, Papua New Guinea 0.4% and Germany 0.3%.

In Charters Towers, 84.4% of people had both parents born in Australia and 7.8% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Charters Towers were Catholic 25.0%, No Religion 19.9%, Anglican 19.0%, Uniting Church 12.1% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.4%.

In Charters Towers 91.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Tagalog 0.2%, Vietnamese 0.2%, Italian 0.2%, Urdu 0.1% and Spanish 0.1%.

Employment

There were 3,511 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Charters Towers. Of these 60.1% were employed full time, 26.2% were employed part-time and 6.4% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Charters Towers, 9.9% worked 1 to 15 hours, 7.4% worked 16 to 24 hours and 47.9% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Charters Towers was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 39 years.

The most common occupations in Charters Towers included Technicians and Trades Workers 16.5%, Professionals 15.3%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 15.0%, Labourers 13.0%, Community and Personal Service Workers 10.2%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.0%, Sales Workers 9.5% and Managers 8.6%.

Of the employed people in Charters Towers, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 11.9%, Metal Ore Mining 8.8%, Local Government Administration 5.2%, Hospitals 4.9% and Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.8%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Charters Towers was $487.

In Charters Towers, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 58.2%, Car, as passenger 8.0%, Walked only 6.4%, Bus 4.0% and Truck 1.2%. On the day, 4.7% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 66.6% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Charters Towers, of people aged 15 years and over, 64.1% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 27.3% provided care for children and 10.0% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 19.1% 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 Charters Towers, 23.3% worked 5 to 14 hours, 11.8% worked 15 to 29 hours and 12.1% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Charters Towers, 38.2% were couple families with children, 39.9% were couple families without children and 20.6% were one parent families.

In Charters Towers 13.7% of single parents were male and 86.3% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Charters Towers, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,193 and those without children was $1,854.

Employment status of couple families

In Charters Towers, of couple families with children, 20.3% had both partners employed full-time, 2.8% had both employed part-time and 16.5% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Charters Towers, 86.8% of private dwellings were occupied and 13.2% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Charters Towers, 90.8% were separate houses, 1.5% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 4.7% were flats, units or apartments and 2.9% were other dwellings.

In Charters Towers, of occupied private dwellings 3.2% had 1 bedroom, 21.3% had 2 bedrooms and 45.7% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3. The average household size was 2.5 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Charters Towers, 33.1% were owned outright, 27.8% were owned with a mortgage and 34.3% were rented.

Household composition

In Charters Towers, of all households, 70.2% were family households, 26.4% were single person households and 3.4% were group households.

In Charters Towers, 30.1% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 6.4% 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 Charters Towers, 37.5% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 34.2% had two registered motor vehicles and 14.4% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Charters Towers, there were 827 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 411 (or 49.7%) were male and 416 (or 50.3%) were female. The median age was 18 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 Charters Towers, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3.3, with 1.3 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $833.

In Charters Towers, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $170 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,083.