Urban Area · Area profile
Albany
299 km²
A sprawling coastal hub in the south west, Albany is a retirement-friendly community with a noticeably older population. The typical resident is 45, and nearly a quarter of the people here are seniors, which is well above the national figure. Since 2011, the population has grown by 14% to 35,053 people. This growth is happening alongside a shift toward a more secular community, where more than half of residents now report having no religion.
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The area is much older than most similar places, with 23.8% of people aged 65 and over. In contrast, children under 15 make up 17.4% of the population, a figure that has fallen since 2011.
English and Australian ancestries are most common, though only 19.4% of people were born overseas, which is far below the Western Australian average.
English is the primary language for 87.7% of the community, and the 6.4% who use another language at home is far below the national figure.
A majority of residents—50.4%—report no religion, a figure that has risen by 20 points since 2011 and is far above the national average.
About 15.2% of adults hold a bachelor degree or higher, and 45.4% completed Year 12, though both figures remain well below state and national levels.
Typical weekly household income is $1,332, which is well below the national figure of $1,746. Only 12.8% of households earn $3,000 or more each week.
Long-term health conditions are more common here than elsewhere, affecting 33.3% of people. Arthritis and mental health are the most reported conditions.
Volunteer rates are very high at 20.6%, well above the national average, although the proportion of people doing 15+ hours of unpaid housework has fallen since 2011.
Living alone is more common than usual, with 30.1% of people in single-person homes. This helps explain why there are fewer people per home (2.3) than the national average.
The housing stock is dominated by separate houses (90.0%), with 81.4% of homes having three or more bedrooms. Outright home ownership is high at 36.9%.
Cars are essential for most, with 71% of workers commuting by vehicle and only 0.8% using public transport. Only 4.9% of homes have no motor vehicle.
The community is relatively stable, as the proportion of people who moved in the last five years (38.6%) is lower than most areas.
Health care and social assistance is the biggest employer. While the unemployment rate is a low 3.9%, full-time employment is well below the national figure at 54.5%.
The area is only somewhat walkable, with a score of 4.5. Fewer than half of homes are within a 15-minute walk of groceries or schools.