The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has unveiled new analysis about towns of the mining boom using data from the 2011 Census.

The latest Australian Social Trends report has shown that Karratha, Roxby Downs, Newman and Middlemount are among the mining towns that have experienced the fastest population growth since the last Census.

ABS Director of Social and Progress Reporting Jane Griffin-Warwicke said "These high growth mining towns tend to have a lot of people on higher incomes, but they work long hours."

“These residents also sometimes pay quite high rents - for example the median rent for a separate house in Karratha rented from a private landlord was $1300 a week.

“Unlike the rest of Australia, where females outnumber males, high growth mining towns have more males. For example, more than two-thirds of people staying in Middlemount on Census Night were male.

"The majority of people in fast growing mining towns are in their prime working years between 25 and 54," she said.

The analysis also found that these towns tend not to have many older people with only 1 per cent of people in Roxby Downs on Census Night aged 65 or older.

All AST articles are available in full online at www.abs.gov.au/socialtrends

High growth mining towns between 2006 and 2011, Census Night population
 

2006

2011

Average annual increase
 

no.

no.

%

Karratha (WA)

13 257

20 061

8.6

Roxby Downs (SA)

4 037

5 817

7.6

Newman (WA)

4 746

6 761

7.3

Moranbah (Qld)

8 258

10 439

4.8

Port Hedland (WA)

12 912

16 054

4.5

Weipa (Qld)

3 140

3 823

4.0

Middlemount (Qld)

2 530

3 067

3.9

Emerald (Qld)

11 471

13 644

3.5

Clermont (Qld)

1 991

2 359

3.5

Dysart (Qld)

3 625

4 284

3.4

Australia

20 061 648

21 727 160

1.6