Cooktown

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 1,617 people in Cooktown of these 51.3% were male and 48.7% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 22.3% of the population.

The median age of people in Cooktown was 40 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 22.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.1% of the population.

Of people in Cooktown aged 15 years and over, 39.3% were married and 15.3% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Cooktown was 53 years and the median age of people never married was 36 years.

In Cooktown, of people aged 15 years and over, 38.3% of people were in a registered marriage and 18.0% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Cooktown was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 36 years.

In Cooktown 25.7% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 31.1% were in primary school, 14.7% in secondary school and 9.6% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Cooktown were Australian 32.6%, English 24.9%, Irish 6.5%, Scottish 6.4% and Australian Aboriginal 5.2%.

In Cooktown, 78.9% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 3.0%, England 2.8%, Germany 0.7%, Papua New Guinea 0.7% and Philippines 0.5%.

In Cooktown, 70.9% of people had both parents born in Australia and 17.2% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Cooktown were No Religion 24.0%, Anglican 20.7%, Catholic 15.9%, Lutheran 9.5% and Uniting Church 4.3%.

In Cooktown 82.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Guugu Yimidhirr 4.4%, German 0.7%, Japanese 0.4%, Maori (New Zealand) 0.4% and Thai 0.2%.

Employment

There were 725 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Cooktown. Of these 59.6% were employed full time, 26.2% were employed part-time and 7.6% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Cooktown, 8.5% worked 1 to 15 hours, 6.6% worked 16 to 24 hours and 46.1% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Cooktown was 45 years and for people who were employed part-time was 44 years.

The most common occupations in Cooktown included Professionals 18.0%, Labourers 14.5%, Managers 14.3%, Technicians and Trades Workers 12.4%, Community and Personal Service Workers 11.6%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 10.9%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 8.8% and Sales Workers 7.5%.

Of the employed people in Cooktown, the most common responses for industry of employment included Local Government Administration 12.8%, School Education 8.2%, Accommodation 5.8%, Hospitals 5.8% and Supermarket and Grocery Stores 3.9%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Cooktown was $546.

In Cooktown, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 52.5%, Walked only 12.8%, Car, as passenger 8.5%, Truck 3.3% and Other 2.2%. On the day, 1.3% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 60.9% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Cooktown, of people aged 15 years and over, 67.9% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 25.4% 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, 23.0% 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 Cooktown, 27.7% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.5% worked 15 to 29 hours and 10.3% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Cooktown, 33.6% were couple families with children, 46.5% were couple families without children and 18.6% were one parent families.

In Cooktown 19.4% of single parents were male and 80.6% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Cooktown, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,957 and those without children was $1,680.

Employment status of couple families

In Cooktown, of couple families with children, 22.7% had both partners employed full-time, 4.3% had both employed part-time and 15.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Cooktown, 83.3% of private dwellings were occupied and 16.7% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Cooktown, 74.6% were separate houses, 5.1% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 14.3% were flats, units or apartments and 5.6% were other dwellings.

In Cooktown, of occupied private dwellings 13.5% had 1 bedroom, 26.0% had 2 bedrooms and 39.2% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 2.6. The average household size was 2.2 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Cooktown, 24.0% were owned outright, 19.8% were owned with a mortgage and 51.6% were rented.

Household composition

In Cooktown, of all households, 59.8% were family households, 36.3% were single person households and 3.8% were group households.

In Cooktown, 31.3% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 3.4% 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 Cooktown, 44.6% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 26.8% had two registered motor vehicles and 10.5% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Cooktown, there were 359 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 170 (or 47.4%) were male and 189 (or 52.6%) were female. The median age was 23 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 Cooktown, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3, with 1.4 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $756.

In Cooktown, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $180 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,950.