THE 2016 census was plagued with problems, but the data released today still paints a relatively accurate picture of the people in the City of Greater Bendigo.
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The Australian Bureau of Statistics says 95.1 per cent of people completed the survey.
The results found that population growth in Bendigo has increased since 2011, there are still more women than men, most of us are aged either between 20 and 24, or 55 and 59, and almost half of us are married.
The average Bendigo resident is:
- Female, aged 39, married, born in Australia with both parents born in Australia and has no religion.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the stats:
Population growth
There are 25,000 more people living in the City of Greater Bendigo in 2016 compared with 2001 – and it’s rising faster with each census.
In the last five years, almost 10,000 more people have come to live in Bendigo.
Housing
The average Bendigo resident is paying $50 per week more for rent compared with five years ago, and $87 per month more in mortgage repayments.
The size of the average household has decreased however, from 2.5 to 2.4 people.
Almost half (49.3 per cent) of us live in three-bedroom houses, a third own their house outright, 28 per cent are renting and 35.5 per cent are paying off their mortgage – almost identical to the Victorian average.
Heritage
Bendigo greatly exceeded the average for Australian-born residents compared with the Victorian and Australian average.
In Bendigo, 84.5 per cent of people were born in Australia. That’s compared with 64.9 per cent of Victorians, and 66.7 per cent in Australia.
The next highest countries of birth in Bendigo were England (1.8 per cent), New Zealand (0.7 per cent), India (0.6 per cent), Myanmar (0.4 per cent) and Thailand (0.4 per cent).
74.6 per cent of people in Bendigo had both parents born in Australia, compared with 44.1 per cent in Victoria, and 47.3 per cent nationwide.
Karen was the top language other than English spoken in Bendigo. There are 870 people who speak Karen, 486 who speak Mandarin and 205 for Italian.
The overwhelming majority (88.6 per cent) of households in Bendigo only speak English in the home, compared with 67.9 per cent of Victorian households.
Bendigo also had a greater proportion of people answer “no religion” compared with the state and national average.
In fact, there are more non-religious people (35.9 per cent) in Bendigo than Catholics (22.1 per cent).
Age
The median age in Bendigo is 39 – continuing a trend of ageing by one year for every census.
In 2011, it was 38. In 2006, it was 37.
There was also a significant increase in the number of people aged 85 or over in Bendigo between 2011 and 2016 – an increase of almost 500 people.
It was likewise for children aged 0-4. There was an increase of more than 300 children in that age group.
The gender breakdown was identical to five years ago.
51.5 per cent of people in Bendigo identify as female, 48.5 per cent as male.
Income
Bendigo people continued to earn less compared with the state and national averages.
In 2016, the average person earns $604 per week and the average family earns $1452 per week.
Both figures represented a significant increase on five years earlier.
Education
Bendigo was behind the state and national average for the number of people attending university, but close to the average for people attending a technical college or other education institution.
Marital status
It looks like Bendigo people are getting divorced or separating more and more – particularly compared with the state and national average.
There are 8,400 people in Bendigo who have gone through a divorce – 9.4 per cent. The number of people still married is far greater however, with 46.2 per cent of adults in a registered marriage.