ABS data reveals the Pilbara town where men outnumber women by 3 to 1

Pilbara singles have lamented the region’s long-running lady drought as fresh data reveals there are nearly three men for every woman in some inland towns. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data on gender ratios released in August shows the Shire of East Pilbara had the second highest male to female ratio in Australia, with 289.8 men per 100 women. Other areas with high male ratios included Ashburton (243.6), Roebourne (158.5), where a prison is situated, and Meekatharra (154.1). Single Karratha man Oren Portelli said the statistics did not surprise him. “It’s way harder to meet a girl and trying to connect with someone mostly because there’s very little of them here,” he said. “Even when you go out to the pub you notice how there’s not many females and most of the time they’re either taken or not really interested. “I’ve tried some dating apps for a little while but recently got off them because there is limited girls on there and if I’m meant to meet someone, I’ll meet them so I’m just relying on fate.” Mr Portelli said living in a transient mining town was hard. “If they’re here, they’re usually not here for very long so to try and connect with someone is pretty hard,” he said. “You’ll meet them, hang out a couple of times and in a few weeks they’ll be gone.” South Hedland resident Matthew Markwell has been single for four years and said while he was enjoying the time he had to himself, he had found it difficult to make connections with the right women. “You do make connections but you know it’s not real and having more guys than girls makes that even harder,” he said. “You’ll walk into a pub and you’ll see five girls and 20 blokes.” FIFO worker Jordan Rennie said there was a lot of testosterone in Karratha. “Unless there’s girls working behind the bar, there’s pretty much no girls around in the pubs here,” he said. “I’d never dance with a group full of blokes, if you know what I mean.” Darwin’s Howard Springs, home to a prison, had the most lopsided male-to-female ratio 308.8. Mosman Park in Perth’s golden triangle was on the opposite end of the scale with 84.2 men for every 100 women, the fourth lowest sex ratio in Australia.