Census Reveals Cowra Mostly Unchanged In Last Five Years

Data from the 2021 Australian Census was released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week, revealing little change to the demographics of the Cowra Local Government Area. Compared with the previous census in 2016, the population of the shire had grown by 264 residents, for a total population of 12,724 people.

The median age remains unchanged at 47, while the percentage of male to females was virtually the same, with 49.6% male, and 50.4% female.

The median weekly household income has increased slightly from $959 per week to $112 per week, however the median weekly rent has increased from $180 per week to $230.

Median monthly mortgage repayments increased slightly from $1148 to $1200. The percentage of residents identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander has increased from 7.9% to 8.8%, which is more than double that of NSW and Australia as a whole, being 3.4% and 3.2% respectively.

Interestingly, the number of people identifying as speaking the Wiradjuri language as a second language at home has nearly doubled, from just 19 people in 2016 t0 35 people last year, overtaking both Greek and Mandarin.

The most populated age group has moved up to 70-74 years, making up for 7.5% of the population or 958 people. It seems around 10% more of Cowra is not religious, with residents identifying as not being part of a particular religion increasing to 26.8%, up from 16.7%. The number of people identifying them-selves as having Australian ancestry has increased significantly, up to 42.8% compared with 35.6% in 2016, sitting slightly above English. This is well above the state and national data of just 28.6% and 29.9% respectively.

Employment data for the Cowra LGA is not yet available. For more information on Cowra LGA census data visit https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/LGA12350.

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