Powered by .id (informed decisions) for City of Port Phillip
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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn 2021, 43% of households in South Melbourne contained only one person, compared with 43.8% in the City of Port Phillip, with the most dominant household size being 1 person per household.
The size of households in general follows the life-cycle of families. Households are usually small at the stage of relationship formation (early marriage), and then increase in size with the advent of children. They later reduce in size again as these children reach adulthood and leave home. Household size can also be influenced by a lack (or abundance) of affordable housing. Overseas migrants and indigenous persons often have a tradition of living with extended family members which significantly affects household size.
Household size in Australia has generally declined since the 1970s, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent years.
An increasing household size in an area may indicate a lack of affordable housing opportunities for young people, an increase in the birth rate or an increase in family formation in the area. A declining household size may indicate children leaving the area when they leave home, an increase in retirees settling in the area, or an attraction of young singles and couples to the area.
For greater insight, South Melbourne's Household Size data should be viewed in conjunction with Household Summary, Age Structure, Dwelling Type, Household Income and Language Spoken at Home.
Q:
Derived from the three Census questions:
'Name of each person including visitors who spent the night of Tuesday, 10 August 2021 in this dwelling', and 'Where does the person usually live?', and 'Name of each person who usually lives in this dwelling but was away on Tuesday, 10 August 2021.'
| Household size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Melbourne - Households (Enumerated) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Number of persons usually resident | Number | % | City of Port Phillip % | Number | % | City of Port Phillip % | 2016 to 2021 |
| 1 person | 2,433 | 43.3 | 43.8 | 1,864 | 38.0 | 39.5 | +569 |
| 2 persons | 2,032 | 36.2 | 35.3 | 1,906 | 38.9 | 38.2 | +125 |
| 3 persons | 612 | 10.9 | 10.8 | 615 | 12.6 | 12.0 | -4 |
| 4 persons | 416 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 414 | 8.5 | 7.7 | +1 |
| 5 persons | 106 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 90 | 1.9 | 2.1 | +15 |
| 6 or more persons | 19 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 12 | 0.2 | 0.6 | +7 |
| Total classifiable households | 5,618 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 4,903 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +714 |
| Household size - Summary | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Melbourne - Enumerated | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Dwellings | Number | % | City of Port Phillip % | Number | % | City of Port Phillip % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Occupied private dwellings | 6,021 | -- | -- | 5,493 | -- | -- | +528 |
| Persons in occupied private dwellings | 11,229 | -- | -- | 10,459 | -- | -- | +770 |
| Average household size (persons per dwelling) | 1.87 | -- | 1.88 | 1.90 | -- | 1.91 | -0.04 |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the number of persons usually resident in a household in South Melbourne compared with the City of Port Phillip shows that there were a similar proportion of lone person households, and a lower proportion of larger households (those with 4 persons or more). Overall there were 43.3% of lone person households, and 9.6% of larger households, compared with 43.8% and 10.1% respectively for the City of Port Phillip.
There were no major differences between South Melbourne and City of Port Phillip in 2021.
Emerging groups
The number of households in South Melbourne increased by 715 between 2016 and 2021.
The largest changes in the number of persons usually resident in a household in South Melbourne between 2016 and 2021 were:
- 1 person (+569 households)
- 2 persons (+125 households)
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