Perth City and Kalgoorlie followed in second and third place. 

At the last census there were 2900 mining jobs in Mount Isa and the average income for those miners was $122,662. 

While there were more than 1000 extra jobs recorded in the 2011 census, the average income was lower at $96,373 a year. 

During the 2016 census, Fly In, Fly Out workers were encouraged to claim they “usually live” in the North West to add weight to local government funding claims. 

Population was an important factor in receiving funding from state and federal governments but had to be recognised formally from the census, Queensland Census director Caroline Deans told The North West Star in 2016.

“For a lot of the FIFO they are technically more than half the year in Isa,” Ms Deans said. 

“Their home base may be Townsville, Cairns or Brisbane but they are slightly less than half the year back there, so their usual residence should be Mount Isa.

After a couple of tough years, the north west mining industry is back on its feet, more than 100 delegates were told at the AusIMM branch conference in Cloncurry last month. 

AusIMM CEO Stephen Durkin said things have really turned around in the north west in the past year. 

“The sector overall is in really good health. Profitability is up, the value of a lot of companies have increased significantly in the past 12 months and employment is up significantly,” Mr Durkin said. 

“It is absolutely correct to say the industry is back on its feet in the north west. It is also worth reminding ourselves that Australia is a world leader in mining and this region is one of the most important parts of Australia in terms of its contribution to the mining industry. 

“Our reputation has always been and remains very strong,” he said. 

“If there was an Olympics for mining, Australia would have been on the podium in every one of the Olympics for the past 100 years.”