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AustraliaCommunity profile

Greater Sydney

Household type

In Greater Sydney, 34.4% of households were made up of couples with children in 2021, compared with 29.0% in Greater Darwin.

Greater Sydney's household and family structure is one of the most important demographic indicators. It reveals the area's residential role and function, era of settlement and provides key insights into the level of demand for services and facilities as most are related to age and household types.

To continue building the story, Greater Sydney's Household Summary should be viewed in conjunction with Households with Children, Households without Children, Household Size, Age Structure and Dwelling Type.

If you're looking at this data to prepare a housing strategy, learn more here.

Q:

Derived from the Census question:

'What is the person's relationship (to each other person in the household)?'

Household type
Greater Sydney - Total households (Enumerated)20212016Change
Households by typeNumber%Greater Darwin %Number%Greater Darwin %2016 to 2021
Couples with children657,94134.429.0607,34335.330.0+50,598
Couples without children445,96423.322.6385,86322.423.5+60,101
One parent families200,17810.510.1179,45910.48.8+20,719
Other families23,4991.21.122,9931.31.0+506
Group household76,5584.05.076,7954.55.2-237
Lone person424,71722.220.7351,41920.418.0+73,298
Other not classifiable household70,4563.75.880,7554.78.4-10,299
Visitor only households12,3450.65.815,0490.95.1-2,704
Total households1,911,658100.0100.01,719,676100.0100.0+191,982
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions).
Please refer to specific data notes for more information

Dominant groups

Analysis of the household/family types in Greater Sydney in 2021 compared to Greater Darwin shows that there was a higher proportion of couple families with child(ren) as well as a similar proportion of one-parent families. Overall, 34.4% of total families were couple families with child(ren), and 10.5% were one-parent families, compared with 29.0% and 10.1% respectively for Greater Darwin.

There were a higher proportion of lone person households and a higher proportion of couples without children. Overall, the proportion of lone person households was 22.2% compared to 20.7% in Greater Darwin while the proportion of couples without children was 23.3% compared to 22.6% in Greater Darwin.

Emerging groups

The number of households in Greater Sydney increased by 191,982 between 2016 and 2021.

The largest changes in family/household types in Greater Sydney between 2016 and 2021 were:

  • Lone person (+73,298 households)
  • Couples without children (+60,101 households)
  • Couples with children (+50,598 households)
  • One parent families (+20,719 households)

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