However, regional figures have not had such a steady increase - some centres have boomed while others have declined.

Moree experienced a decline of 3.9 per cent since the 2006 census. This equates to a loss of 550 people over the five-year period. According to the Census, the 2011 population was 13,622 people.

This decline is in contrast with Inverell, up 3.6 per cent; Gunnedah, up 4.7 per cent; and Tamworth, up five per cent.

Narrabri also experienced a decline of 1.5 per cent.

Moree Plains Shire Mayor Katrina Humphries said she wasn’t too worried about the variation because observations of the town proved otherwise.

“We can’t get anyone else in here; rentals are chock-a-block,” Cr Humphries said.

She said the discrepancy could be put down to people not filling out the forms due to laziness, or the implications of supplying some information to the government.

“It’s disappointing some people don’t fill in the reports,” Cr Humphries said.

Of those who recorded Moree as their place of residence, 12,370 said they were in Moree on Census night. A further 1244 were staying elsewhere.

The largest slice of the population was 3043 people aged 14 years and under, followed by the 35 to 44 age bracket, of which there were 1899 people. There were only 161 people recorded as 85 and over, making this the smallest age bracket in the community.

Our median mortgage repayments were $1300 per month with weekly rent sitting at $140 per week and our median income at $558 per week.