Clutha's population may have dropped in the last decade and its residents may have fewer qualifications, but they are earning more and tend to own their own homes, figures collated from the last three censuses show.
Clutha District Council district development manager Julie Pearse prepared a snapshot of key details from the censuses in 1996, 2001 and 2006 to give district development board members a chance to consider trends and changes in the district over the last 10 years.
The board studied the report yesterday.
It shows the district's population has dropped 1167 to 16,839 in the last decade, while the Maori population has stayed relatively unchanged, up from 1440 in 1996 to 1482 at the last census two years ago.
Of its numbers, 13.4% of the population is aged 65 and over compared to the national average of 12.3% while Clutha has slightly more younger people than the national rate with 22.8% of its residents aged under 15 years, compared with the New Zealand average of 21.5%.
On the education front, fewer Clutha young people have a post-school qualification, compared with the rest of the country - 29.8% at the last census while the figure for the rest of New Zealand was 39.9%.
The numbers for those aged over 15 with no formal qualification was also worse than the national average with 36.7% of all Clutha young people fitting into that category at the 2006 census while the national average then was just 25%.
But that did not necessarily mean those young people could not find work.
Clutha's unemployment rate for the last decade has consistently been about half the national average.
In 2006, just 2.3% of the population were jobless compared with the national unemployment rate of 5.1%.
When it comes to incomes, Clutha sits on a par with the rest of the country's earners, except those in the higher income brackets.
The national median income for people 15 years and over, at the last census, was $24,400 while the Clutha figure was $23,000.
Of all people over 15 earning $20,000 or less, the national average was 43.2% of the population.
In Clutha, it was slightly higher at 44.1%.
But whereas 18% of Kiwis earn $50,000 or more annually, just 11.8% of Clutha earners can claim that.
Other figures from the last census include:Families: Couples with children, 43.1% in Clutha (national average 42.%); couples without children, 46.1% (39.9%); one-parent with children families, 10.8% (18.1%).
Communications: No access, 2% (2%); Internet, 53.1% (60.5%); cellphone, 71.8% (74.2%); telephone, 91.2% (91.6%); fax, 32.5% (26%).
Housing: Households who own their house, with or without a mortgage, 56% (54.5%).
