Home » Living in » Suburbs » Harristown

Harristown

Bordered by Greenwattle Street, James Street, West Street and Stenner Street, Harristown is one of the larger suburbs of Toowoomba. The suburb is approximately 7.2 square kilometres, and is home to 7,950 people. It has a medium density of around 1100 people per square kilometre.

21.7 per cent of people living in Harristown are over the age of 65. This is above the national average of 13.3 per cent and the Toowoomba average of 15.3 per cent. The median age of people living in this suburb is 38 which is also older than average.

With 11 per cent of the people living in Harristown are widowed which is high compared to the national average of 5.9 per cent. The average number of people per household is 2.3 which is quite low. 31.6 per cent of the households in this suburb are single people living alone, high compared to national average (22.9%) and the whole of Toowoomba (26.9%). Of the 2047 families living in Harristown, 43 per cent are couples without children which is higher than average, and 35.5 per cent are couples with children which is lower than average.

These figures suggest that there may be a larger number of retired people living in this suburb. This would also explain the reduced household income figures.

Unemployment in Harristown is 6.3 per cent which is above the Toowoomba average (5.1%). Of the people who are employed, the most popular occupation is Technicians and Trades Workers (17.4%) followed by Labourers (16.2%). The most popular industry of work is School Education (5.5%) followed by Cafes, Restaurants and Take-away Food Services (3.9%) and Hospitals (4.7%). In fact, across the majority of suburbs in Toowoomba, employment in School Education and Hospitals is above the national average. Toowoomba is great place to live because we have access to many educational institutions and medical facilities but it seems they are also very important industries to the local economy.

The average individual income per week in Harristown is $380. The average household income per week is $691 and the average family income per week is $933. These incomes are all lower than average. Household and family income are some of the lowest incomes of the Toowoomba suburbs. The median rent in this suburb is $170 per week which is average compared to the whole of Toowoomba ($175). Rental properties are similarly priced to those in Centenary Heights, Wilsonton, and North Toowoomba.

36.1 per cent of dwellings in Harristown are fully owned which is high compared to the whole of Australia (32.6%) and compared to Toowoomba (33.9%). The proportion of dwelling being rented is below the Toowoomba average.

Sources2006 Census QuickStats: Harristown (Toowoomba City) (State Suburb) (2007). Australian Bureau of Statistics. http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au