Census Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics
People in the Sunshine Coast Council region are older than state and national averages, with the average resident age at 43. The state average is 37 and the national average is 38. Residents aged between 40 and 59 make up the biggest section of the region’s 294,367-strong population, with the next biggest age group five to 24-year-olds. Children aged 14 years and younger made up 18.1% of the population and people aged 65 ye…ars and older made up 20.3%.
There are more childless families on the Coast than the state and national averages, with 44 per cent of couples without children. They outnumbered couples with children, at 39.4%.
Nearly 75% of Coast residents were born in Australia, with England (6%) New Zealand (4.5%) and South Africa (1%) the next top countries of origin.
Coast residents are behind the state and national averages for weekly incomes, with the average single wage at $615. State-wide it is $660 a week and nationally is it $662. The average family combined income was $1491 a week, which was also lower than the state and national averages of $1661 and $1734.
The number of outright home owners tops the number of those still paying mortgages by just 11, with renters making up the next largest majority of tenures. Those renters are paying an average of $370 a week, which is $40 more than state and $35 more than national averages.
QUICK FACTS
• People: 294,367
• Men: 48.2%
• Women: 51.8%
• Median age: 43
• Families: 80,469
• Average children per family for families with children: 1.8
• For all families: 0.7
• All private homes: 129,978
• Average people per household: 2.5
• Median weekly household income: $1275
• Median monthly mortgage repayments: $1800
• Median weekly rent: $370
• Average motor vehicles per dwelling: 1.9
• Aboriginal and/ or Torres Strait Island make up 1.9% of the population
(Source: Sunshine Coast Daily, 27 June 2017)
