Smithton

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 3,240 people in Smithton of these 49.2% were male and 50.8% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 15.7% of the population.

The median age of people in Smithton was 39 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 21.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.0% of the population.

Of people in Smithton aged 15 years and over, 47.8% were married and 11.8% were either divorced or separated.

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

In Smithton, of people aged 15 years and over, 47.2% of people were in a registered marriage and 13.5% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Smithton was 52 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 34 years.

In Smithton 26.0% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 33.9% were in primary school, 24.7% in secondary school and 11.1% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Smithton were Australian 40.1%, English 34.6%, Irish 7.7%, Scottish 6.1% and German 1.5%.

In Smithton, 90.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were New Zealand 1.6%, England 1.3%, South Africa 0.4%, Philippines 0.3% and Netherlands 0.3%.

In Smithton, 87.8% of people had both parents born in Australia and 6.4% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Smithton were Anglican 24.2%, No Religion 23.8%, Catholic 16.5%, Uniting Church 6.6% and Christian, nfd 6.5%.

In Smithton 95.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 0.3%, Thai 0.2%, Tagalog 0.2%, German 0.1% and Hindi 0.1%.

Employment

There were 1,498 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Smithton. Of these 56.7% were employed full time, 30.6% were employed part-time and 5.2% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Smithton, 10.1% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.0% worked 16 to 24 hours and 37.9% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Smithton was 42 years and for people who were employed part-time was 41 years.

The most common occupations in Smithton included Labourers 24.5%, Technicians and Trades Workers 14.4%, Managers 12.1%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 10.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 9.9%, Community and Personal Service Workers 8.9%, Professionals 8.9% and Sales Workers 8.7%.

Of the employed people in Smithton, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 7.0%, Meat and Meat Product Manufacturing 5.7%, Log Sawmilling and Timber Dressing 5.0%, Dairy Product Manufacturing 3.9% and Fruit and Vegetable Processing 3.1%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Smithton was $496.

In Smithton, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 68.1%, Car, as passenger 7.2%, Walked only 6.9%, Truck 1.5% and Other 0.8%. On the day, 0.4% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 75.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Smithton, of people aged 15 years and over, 68.8% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 30.8% provided care for children and 10.1% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 24.0% 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 Smithton, 25.6% worked 5 to 14 hours, 13.7% worked 15 to 29 hours and 11.0% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Smithton, 40.0% were couple families with children, 41.9% were couple families without children and 17.0% were one parent families.

In Smithton 20.5% of single parents were male and 79.5% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Smithton, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $1,572 and those without children was $1,538.

Employment status of couple families

In Smithton, of couple families with children, 15.8% had both partners employed full-time, 5.2% had both employed part-time and 24.5% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Smithton, 90.1% of private dwellings were occupied and 9.9% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Smithton, 85.3% were separate houses, 0.3% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 12.7% were flats, units or apartments and 1.8% were other dwellings.

In Smithton, of occupied private dwellings 5.6% had 1 bedroom, 18.0% had 2 bedrooms and 58.7% 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 Smithton, 32.0% were owned outright, 35.2% were owned with a mortgage and 29.6% were rented.

Household composition

In Smithton, of all households, 66.5% were family households, 32.0% were single person households and 1.5% were group households.

In Smithton, 35.0% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 2.3% 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 Smithton, 40.8% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 35.7% had two registered motor vehicles and 12.2% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Smithton, there were 506 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 242 (or 47.8%) were male and 264 (or 52.2%) were female. The median age was 22 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 Smithton, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3, with 1.1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $776.

In Smithton, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $145 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,127.