Welcome to the Dictionary of Sydney - Suburb demographics
Sydney is a diverse city, home to over 3.7 million people in 2006, living in over 600 suburbs. Each suburb has its own unique characteristics – historically, geographically and demographically. Together they make up an exciting and cosmopolitan city.
The Dictionary of Sydney suburb demographic profiles, based on Census data, provide an insight to the demographic characteristics of Sydney’s suburbs. What are the characteristics of the people who live in each suburb? How do they compare to the rest of Sydney? How they are changing over time? You will find the answers to these questions here.
The Census is conducted every five years, with the most recent one conducted in August 2006. On this site you will find a demographic snapshot for each suburb based on the 2006 Census. You will also find historical data from the 2001 and 1996 Censuses. You cannot directly compare the data from the 2006 Census with previous years due to geography and question changes – each profile is a snapshot at a particular point in time.
2006 Profiles
This section of the website contains suburb profiles based on the 2006 Census.
The geographic boundaries of Sydney change over time and different definitions are used for different purposes. The 2006 profile includes suburbs within the Local Government Authorities of Ashfield, Auburn, Bankstown, Baulkham Hills, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Botany Bay, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury, City of Sydney, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Hurstville, Kogarah, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Leichhardt, Liverpool, Manly, Marrickville, Mosman, North Sydney, Parramatta, Penrith, Pittwater, Randwick, Rockdale, Ryde, Strathfield, Sutherland, Warringah, Waverley, Willoughby and Woollahra.
You can download a map of the region from this site.
Although efforts have been made to cover the whole of Sydney, not all suburbs could be profiled, and some smaller suburbs have been combined with neighbouring areas. However, over 650 suburbs with a large enough population in 2006 could be presented as detailed community profiles.