Demographics & education

People tables are based on a person's place of usual residence on Census night

In the 2016 Census, there were 1,676,653 people in South Australia. Of these 49.3% were male and 50.7% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.0% of the population.

The median age of people in South Australia was 40 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 17.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.3% of the population.

Of people in South Australia aged 15 years and over, 47.7% were married and 12.4% were either divorced or separated.

In South Australia, of people aged 15 years and over, 47.4% of people were in a registered marriage and 10.3% were in a de facto marriage.

In South Australia 28.9% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.5% were in primary school, 19.2% in secondary school and 22.7% in a tertiary or technical institution.

2011 benchmarks are not available for this data item.

Of people aged 15 and over in South Australia, 15.5% reported having completed Year 12 as their highest level of educational attainment, 16.7% had completed a Certificate III or IV and 8.3% had completed an Advanced Diploma or Diploma.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in South Australia were English 28.5%, Australian 25.0%, Scottish 6.3%, Irish 6.0% and German 5.8%.

Respondents had the option of reporting up to two ancestries on their Census form, and this is captured by the Ancestry Multi Response (ANCP) variable used in this table. Therefore, the total responses count will not equal the persons count for this area. Calculated percentages represent a proportion of all responses from people in South Australia (including those who did not state an ancestry).

In South Australia, 71.1% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 5.8%, India 1.6%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 1.5%, Italy 1.1% and Vietnam 0.9%.

In South Australia, 51.8% of people had both parents born in Australia and 30.6% of people had both parents born overseas.

2011 comparison data is not available for this table. For the 2001, 2006 and 2011 Censuses, only whether a person's father was born in Australia or overseas was collected. In 2016, this question expanded to collect the actual country of birth of a person's father.

In South Australia, the most common countries of birth for male parents were Australia 56.9%, England 8.6%, Italy 3.1%, India 2.1% and China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 1.9%.

2011 comparison data is not available for this table. For the 2001, 2006 and 2011 Censuses, only whether a person's mother was born in Australia or overseas was collected. In 2016, this question expanded to collect the actual country of birth of a person's mother.

In South Australia, the most common countries of birth for female parents were Australia 58.7%, England 8.4%, Italy 2.6%, India 2.1% and China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 1.9%.

The most common responses for religion in South Australia were No Religion, so described 35.4%, Catholic 18.0%, Anglican 10.0%, Not stated 9.0% and Uniting Church 7.1%. In South Australia, Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall (53.9%) (this figure excludes not stated responses).

In South Australia 78.2% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 1.7%, Mandarin 1.7%, Greek 1.4%, Vietnamese 1.1% and Cantonese 0.6%.

Employment

There were 806,589 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in South Australia. Of these 53.9% were employed full time, 33.5% were employed part-time and 7.5% were unemployed.

The ABS Labour Force Survey provides the official estimates of Australia's unemployment rate. More information about Census and labour force status is provided inUnderstanding the Census and Census Data.

Of employed people in South Australia, 12.8% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.4% worked 16 to 24 hours and 37.7% worked 40 hours or more.

The most common occupations in South Australia included Professionals 20.3%, Technicians and Trades Workers 13.4%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 13.3%, Managers 12.6%, Community and Personal Service Workers 12.0%, Labourers 11.1%, Sales Workers 9.6% and Machinery Operators and Drivers 6.1%.

Of the employed people in South Australia, the most common responses for industry of employment included Hospitals (except Psychiatric Hospitals) 4.1%, Aged Care Residential Services 3.0%, Supermarket and Grocery Stores 2.9%, Primary Education 2.2% and Cafes and Restaurants 2.1%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in South Australia was $600.

View the data quality statements for:Total personal income (INCP)Total family income (FINF)Total household income (HIND)

In South Australia, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 66.0%, Car, as passenger 4.6%, Worked at home 4.4%, Bus 4.0% and Walked only 2.8%. On the day, 7.2% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 72.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In South Australia, of people aged 15 years and over, 71.0% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 27.5% provided care for children and 12.2% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 21.4% of people did voluntary work through an organisation or a group.

View the data quality statements for:Unpaid domestic work (DOMP)Unpaid child care (CHCAREP)Unpaid assistance (UNCAREP)Voluntary work (VOLWP)

Of people who did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census in South Australia, 27.4% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.6% worked 15 to 29 hours and 9.2% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in South Australia, 41.6% were couple families with children, 40.2% were couple families without children and 16.5% were one parent families.

In South Australia, 19.4% of single parents were male and 80.6% were female.

Employment status of couple families

In South Australia, of couple families with children, 18.5% had both partners employed full-time, 4.6% had both employed part-time and 23.0% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

The ABS Labour Force Survey provides the official estimates of Australia's unemployment rate. More information about Census and labour force status is provided inUnderstanding the Census and Census Data.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In South Australia, 87.4% of private dwellings were occupied and 12.6% were unoccupied.

View the data quality statements for:Dwelling type (DWTD)Dwelling Structure (STRD)

Of occupied private dwellings in South Australia, 77.8% were separate houses, 14.8% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 6.6% were flats or apartments and 0.5% were other dwellings.

In South Australia, of occupied private dwellings 3.4% had 1 bedroom, 18.6% had 2 bedrooms and 52.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3. The average household size was 2.4 people.

View the data quality statements for:Number of bedrooms in a private dwelling (BEDD)Number of persons usually resident in dwelling (NPRD)

Of occupied private dwellings in South Australia, 32.2% were owned outright, 35.3% were owned with a mortgage and 28.5% were rented.

Household composition

In South Australia, of all households, 68.4% were family households, 28.0% were single person households and 3.6% were group households.

In South Australia, 23.8% of households had a weekly household income of less than $650 and 10.7% of households had a weekly income of more than $3000.

Mortgage & rent

Proportions are calculated using all tenure types for occupied private dwellings. This excludes visitor only and other non-classifiable households.

The number of households where rent payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure are expressed in this table as a proportion of the total number of households in an area (including those households which were not renting, and 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.

The number of households where mortgage repayments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure are expressed in this table as a proportion of the total number of households in an area (including those households which were renting, and 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.

Number of motor vehicles

In South Australia, 35.8% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 36.0% had two registered motor vehicles and 17.5% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

Internet connection

In South Australia, 80.6% of households had at least one person access the internet from the dwelling. This could have been through a desktop/laptop computer, mobile or smart phone, tablet, music or video player, gaming console, smart TV or any other device.

People characteristics

In South Australia, 49.4% of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people were male and 50.6% were female. The median age was 23 years.

View the data quality statements for:Place of Usual Residence (PURP)Indigenous status (INGP)

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.

a) There has been change in methodology used to calculate the average number of persons per bedroom. To compare the time series for average number of persons per bedroom please refer toUnderstanding the Census and Census Data

In South Australia, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3 persons, with 1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,014.

View the data quality statements for:Number of Bedrooms in Private Dwelling (BEDD)Household composition (HHCD)Indigenous household Indicator (INGDWTD)

In South Australia, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $220 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,387.

View the data quality statements for:Rent weekly payments (RNTD)Mortgage monthly repayments (MRED)Indigenous household Indicator (INGDWTD)