Census 2021 results show early snapshot of how Rockhampton region is changing

The number of divorces and people not affiliating with a religion are the interesting things to come from last year’s census which shows how the Rockhampton area is rapidly changing. Here’s what the new data shows.

The first round of census data has been released, with the figures producing an early snapshot of how life in Rockhampton has changed since the national data collection was done five years ago.

In August last year, millions of people across the country participated in the quinquennial census.

Since the last census, which was held in 2016, a few things have changed in not only the world and Australia, but in Rockhampton also.

2016 was the year the people of Great Britain voted to leave the European Union initiating ‘Brexit’, Malcolm Turnbull was still Prime Minister of Australia with Scott Morrison as Treasurer, and Queensland clinched their 10th State of Origin shield in 11 years.

Since 2016 the population in the Rockhampton local government area has grown by 2,242 from 79,726 to 81,968.

The weekly median income of an individual person has also risen from $626 to $758 a week, with the median household income rising also from $1255 in 2016 to $1477.

In the first round of census data to be released from the 2021 survey, it was revealed Mandarin was the most common language other than English spoken in some households, a change from 2016 when the more common language was Vietnamese.

The number of people who said they did not affiliate with a religion also almost doubled.

In 2016, 18,081 people in the Rockhampton LGA said they did not affiliate with a religion but that figure almost doubled in 2021 with more than 30,000 people saying they didn’t affiliate with a religion.

Divorces also rose in the LGA, with 6398 people saying they had been divorced in 2021 compared to 5881 in 2016.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is expected to release more data in October.

Population:

2021: 81,968

2016: 79,726

Median Age:

2021: 37

2016: 36

Median Household Income (weekly):

2021: $1477

2016: $1255

Median Family Income (weekly):

2021: $1888

2016: $1539

Median Personal Income (weekly):

2021: $758

2016: $626

Median Rent:

2021: $280

2016: $270

Median Mortgage Repayment:

2021: $1400

2016: $1517

No Religion, So Described:

2021: 30,334

2016: 18,081

Divorces:

2021: 6,398

2016: 5,881

Most common language other than English:

2021: Mandarin

2016: Vietnamese

Most common Country of Birth (Outside of Australia):

2021: New Zealand

2016: New Zealand

Most common ancestry:

2021: Australian, English, Irish, Scottish, Australian Aboriginal

2016: Australian, English, Irish, Scottish, German