Well, providing the rest of the process went more smoothly, the results are in.

There are a few more of us than there were in the last Census in 2011, but we are still overwhelmingly Australian born with English as our main language. 

In the New England and North West region, our average resident has emerged. You might be her, or be living next door to her.

She is a 41-year-old married woman, who, along with her husband, is paying off her three bedroom home. Their children still live at home and probably attend a local public school.

Michelle, which was the most popular name for girls in NSW when she was born, was born in Australia (like her husband and both their parents) and, like the vast majority of us, speak English at home.

If Michelle and Michael (the most popular name for boys in 1975 when he was probably born) go to church, it’s probably to one of the  Anglican variety.

In the 2016 Census, there were 181,555 people in New England and North West  and of these 49.2 per cent were male and 50.8 per cent were female.

The total population number represents an increase of 5,361 from 2011. 

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 10.1 per cent of the population of this region, compared to a State average of 2.9 per cent.

In New England and North West  83.1 per cent of people were born in Australia, making us much less culturally diverse than the State as a whole, where 27.6 per cent of residents were born overseas.

The state wide figure represents an increase from last year – one in four NSW residents are now born overseas. 

Now, let’s look at how well off we are compared to the State average. 

Our median weekly personal income is $579 compared to the NSW average of $664.

To balance this out, our monthly mortgage repayment is $1,309 while the NSW median is $1,986.

In NSW, the median weekly rent for a dwelling is $380 while the figure for our region is $220.

There is plenty of detail to trawl through, but at a glance, it looks like our cheaper mortgages and rents could well be a selling point to capture some of the city dwellers moving away for a cheaper lifestyle.