Sydney facts and figures
Australia's global city
The City of Sydney covers 26.15 square kilometres. Its population density is 6,250 people per square kilometre.
Residential density by suburb ranges from a low in Alexandria of 1,663 people per square kilometre, to 8,506 people per square kilometre in Woolloomooloo, and a high in Elizabeth Bay of 26,317 people per square kilometre.
Cultural backgrounds
Half the City's residents were born overseas. More than 30% of the resident population speaks a language other than English. Apart from English, the most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin, Cantonese, Indonesian, Korean and Greek. The City is home to one of Sydney's largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Diversity of ages
The median age of the City resident is 32, which is 3 years below the average for the rest of Sydney. Almost half the City's residents are aged between 18 and 34. Two-thirds of the population increase in the past 5 years has occurred in this age group. There are fewer teenagers, children and older people residing in the City than in the Sydney metropolitan area.
Living arrangements
Slightly fewer than a quarter of City residents live alone, compared to fewer than 10% Sydney-wide. Sixty per cent of City residents live in family households with a partner and/or children or other relatives. Group households accommodate just under one in five.
Income
On average, individual residents in the City earn a weekly median wage of $717, compared to $518 elsewhere in Sydney. A quarter of residents aged 15 or more have a weekly income of over $1300 a week, while another quarter receive less than $250 per week.
Transport
Sixty per cent of households in the City own a car, compared to more than 85% for the Sydney metropolitan area. The average number of cars per household is only 0.8 compared to 1.5 for the Sydney metropolitan area.
More than a quarter of City residents walk to work; only marginally more (28%) drive. Even more residents use public transport (31%).
Across Sydney, City residents make up a quarter (24%) of all those who walk to work and one-eighth (12.5%) of those who ride a bike to work.
Last updated: Tuesday, 21 May 2013