34,172 ▲ +2.3%
Lower than 54% of section of state areas.
- 2011: 33,407
- 2016: 33,706
- 2021: 34,172
The number of people who usually live in the area, counted on Census night.
Rural Balance · Section of State
Demographics & Identity in Rural Balance
Who lives here — how many people, how old they are, and how communities identify.
Nearly 30% of people in Rural Balance identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, far above the national figure. This is a relatively young place where the typical resident is 36, making it much younger than most similar areas.
34,172
▲ +2.3%
- 1–2: 3 areas
- 2–3: 0 areas
- 3–5: 0 areas
- 5–9: 0 areas
- 9–16: 2 areas
- 16–28: 1 area
- 28–49: 1 area
- 49–85: 0 areas
- 85–149: 1 area
- 149–260: 1 area
- 260–453: 0 areas
- 453–789: 4 areas
- 789–1,376: 2 areas
- 1,376–2,399: 1 area
- 2,399–4,182: 3 areas
- 4,182–7,292: 0 areas
- 7,292–12,713: 3 areas
- 12,713–22,166: 1 area
- 22,166–38,647: 3 areas
- 38,647–67,381: 3 areas
- 67,381–117,481: 2 areas
- 117,481–204,831: 6 areas
- 204,831–357,126: 2 areas
- 357,126–622,657: 5 areas
- 622,657–1,085,615: 2 areas
- 1,085,615–1,892,791: 2 areas
- 1,892,791–3,300,120: 1 area
- 3,300,120–5,753,827: 3 areas
All section of state areas, 2021. The marker is Rural Balance — lower than 54% of areas.
| Rural Balance | 34,172 |
|---|---|
| Australia | 25,422,788 |
Population
How many people, and the typical age.
The population reached 34,172 people in 2021, which is larger than about half of similar areas. This represents a 2.3% increase since 2011, adding around 765 people.
36 yrs ▲ +5.9%
Younger than 88% of section of state areas.
- 2011: 34 yrs
- 2016: 34 yrs
- 2021: 36 yrs
Half the population is older than this age, and half younger.
Age profile
How the population splits across age groups.
Children under 15 make up 19.7% of the population, which is much higher than most areas. In contrast, the proportion of people aged 65 and over is only 10.8%, well below the Australian average of 17.2%.
10.8% ▲ +71.8%
Lower than 79% of section of state areas.
- 2011: 6.3%
- 2016: 8.1%
- 2021: 10.8%
Share of the population aged 65 years and over.
19.7% ▼ -17.4%
Higher than 86% of section of state areas.
- 2011: 23.8%
- 2016: 21.7%
- 2021: 19.7%
Share of the population aged under 15 years.
Age structure
View on map →Rural Balance splits fairly evenly between Young adults (25–44) (28%) and Older adults (45–64) (28%), with Children (0–14) at 20%.
Identity & relationships
First Nations identity and marital status.
Indigenous identity is very strong here, with 29.1% of residents identifying as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. De facto relationships are also very common, accounting for 17.0% of the population, which is well above the national figure.
29.1% ▼ -10.1%
Higher than 93% of section of state areas.
- 2011: 32.3%
- 2016: 28.5%
- 2021: 29.1%
Share of people who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
17.0% ▲ +13.5%
Higher than 99% of section of state areas.
- 2011: 15.0%
- 2016: 17.6%
- 2021: 17.0%
Share of people aged 15+ who are in a de facto marriage (registered marriages excluded).
Marital status
View on map →Rural Balance splits fairly evenly between Married (44%) and Never married (42%), with Divorced at 8%.
Age & sex structure
Sources
- Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
More for Rural Balance
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Demographics & Identity in Rural Balance [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sos/SOS73/rural-balance/topic/demographics-identity