Sydney - Northern Beaches

Demographics & education

In the 2011 Census, there were 237,640 people in Sydney - Northern Beaches of these 49.0% were male and 51.0% were female. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.4% of the population.

The median age of people in Sydney - Northern Beaches was 39 years. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 19.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.5% of the population.

Of people in Sydney - Northern Beaches aged 15 years and over, 53.0% were married and 10.4% were either divorced or separated.

The median age of married people in Sydney - Northern Beaches was 49 years and the median age of people never married was 27 years.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, of people aged 15 years and over, 53.4% of people were in a registered marriage and 9.3% were in a de facto marriage.

The median age of people in a registered marriage in Sydney - Northern Beaches was 49 years and the median age of people in a de facto marriage was 36 years.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches 29.4% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 29.0% were in primary school, 21.5% in secondary school and 20.6% in a tertiary or technical institution.

Cultural & language diversity

The most common ancestries in Sydney - Northern Beaches were English 29.6%, Australian 24.6%, Irish 8.6%, Scottish 7.3% and Italian 3.3%.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, 67.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 8.0%, New Zealand 2.5%, South Africa 1.3%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 1.0% and Italy 0.9%.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, 47.4% of people had both parents born in Australia and 36.5% of people had both parents born overseas.

The most common responses for religion in Sydney - Northern Beaches were Catholic 26.5%, No Religion 24.1%, Anglican 23.5%, Uniting Church 3.8% and Presbyterian and Reformed 2.9%.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches 82.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian 1.5%, Mandarin 0.9%, German 0.9%, Cantonese 0.8% and French 0.7%.

Employment

There were 126,048 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before Census night in Sydney - Northern Beaches. Of these 61.0% were employed full time, 30.4% were employed part-time and 3.5% were unemployed.

Of employed people in Sydney - Northern Beaches, 11.2% worked 1 to 15 hours, 10.5% worked 16 to 24 hours and 49.9% worked 40 hours or more.

The median age of people employed full-time in Sydney - Northern Beaches was 41 years and for people who were employed part-time was 42 years.

The most common occupations in Sydney - Northern Beaches included Professionals 28.1%, Managers 17.3%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 15.0%, Technicians and Trades Workers 11.9%, Sales Workers 9.3%, Community and Personal Service Workers 8.8%, Labourers 5.1% and Machinery Operators And Drivers 2.9%.

Of the employed people in Sydney - Northern Beaches, the most common responses for industry of employment included School Education 4.1%, Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaway Food Services 3.4%, Computer System Design and Related Services 3.3%, Legal and Accounting Services 3.1% and Architectural, Engineering and Technical Services 2.6%.

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Sydney - Northern Beaches was $779.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, on the day of the Census, the most common methods of travel to work for employed people included Car, as driver 55.1%, Bus 10.3%, Car, as passenger 4.0%, Walked only 3.4% and Ferry 1.8%. On the day, 16.3% of employed people used public transport (train, bus, ferry, tram/light rail) as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 59.3% used car (either as driver or as passenger).

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, of people aged 15 years and over, 75.5% did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census. During the two weeks before the Census, 31.7% provided care for children and 10.7% assisted family members or others due to a disability, long term illness or problems related to old age. In the year before the Census, 20.1% of people did voluntary work through an organisation or a group.

Of people who did unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census in Sydney - Northern Beaches, 28.0% worked 5 to 14 hours, 12.6% worked 15 to 29 hours and 8.9% worked 30 hours or more.

Family composition

Of the families in Sydney - Northern Beaches, 49.9% were couple families with children, 36.8% were couple families without children and 12.0% were one parent families.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches 19.1% of single parents were male and 80.9% were female.

Weekly incomes

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, for couple families with two incomes, the median income for those with children was $2,912 and those without children was $2,428.

Employment status of couple families

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, of couple families with children, 22.6% had both partners employed full-time, 4.4% had both employed part-time and 25.6% had one employed full-time and the other part-time.

Dwelling structure

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, 91.1% of private dwellings were occupied and 8.9% were unoccupied.

Of occupied private dwellings in Sydney - Northern Beaches, 60.1% were separate houses, 8.3% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 31.2% were flats, units or apartments and 0.4% were other dwellings.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, of occupied private dwellings 8.4% had 1 bedroom, 26.0% had 2 bedrooms and 31.4% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3. The average household size was 2.6 people.

Of occupied private dwellings in Sydney - Northern Beaches, 34.6% were owned outright, 35.9% were owned with a mortgage and 26.1% were rented.

Household composition

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, of all households, 73.7% were family households, 22.5% were single person households and 3.8% were group households.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, 15.2% of households had a weekly household income of less than $600 and 21.9% of households had a weekly income of more than $3,000.

Mortgage & rent

Proportions are calculated using all tenure types for occupied private dwellings. This excludes visitor only and other non-classifiable households.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households whose rent payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which are not renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Proportions in this table are calculated by taking the number of households who own their dwelling, and whose mortgage payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure and expressing this number as a proportion of the total number of households in an area, including those households which were renting their dwelling (excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion. Further information on the method to impute income is available in the income fact sheet.

Number of motor vehicles

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, 36.7% of occupied private dwellings had one registered motor vehicle garaged or parked at their address, 39.0% had two registered motor vehicles and 14.1% had three or more registered motor vehicles.

People characteristics

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, there were 965 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Of these, 502 (or 52.0%) were male and 463 (or 48.0%) were female. The median age was 28 years.

Dwelling characteristics

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households. These tables represent occupied private dwellings where at least one Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander person was present.

Average number of people per bedroom includes a miscalculation. For more information see the persons per bedroom correction page.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the average household size was 3, with 1.1 persons per bedroom. The median household income was $1,709.

In Sydney - Northern Beaches, for dwellings occupied by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, the median weekly rent was $450 and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,600.