Powered by .id (informed decisions) for City of Sydney
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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn 2021, 41% of households in the City of Sydney contained only one person, compared with 23.2% in Greater Sydney, with the most dominant household size being 1 person per household.
The size of households in general follows the life-cycle of families. Households are usually small at the stage of relationship formation (early marriage), and then increase in size with the advent of children. They later reduce in size again as these children reach adulthood and leave home. Household size can also be influenced by a lack (or abundance) of affordable housing. Overseas migrants and indigenous persons often have a tradition of living with extended family members which significantly affects household size.
Household size in Australia has generally declined since the 1970s, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent years.
An increasing household size in an area may indicate a lack of affordable housing opportunities for young people, an increase in the birth rate or an increase in family formation in the area. A declining household size may indicate children leaving the area when they leave home, an increase in retirees settling in the area, or an attraction of young singles and couples to the area.
For greater insight, the City of Sydney's Household Size data should be viewed in conjunction with Household Summary, Age Structure, Dwelling Type, Household Income and Language Spoken at Home.
Q:
Derived from the three Census questions:
'Name of each person including visitors who spent the night of Tuesday, 10 August 2021 in this dwelling', and 'Where does the person usually live?', and 'Name of each person who usually lives in this dwelling but was away on Tuesday, 10 August 2021.'
| Household size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Sydney - Households (Enumerated) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Number of persons usually resident | Number | % | Greater Sydney % | Number | % | Greater Sydney % | 2016 to 2021 |
| 1 person | 40,160 | 41.1 | 23.2 | 31,857 | 37.3 | 21.6 | +8,303 |
| 2 persons | 37,689 | 38.6 | 30.7 | 32,801 | 38.4 | 29.9 | +4,888 |
| 3 persons | 11,383 | 11.6 | 17.2 | 10,952 | 12.8 | 17.6 | +431 |
| 4 persons | 6,251 | 6.4 | 17.3 | 6,691 | 7.8 | 18.1 | -440 |
| 5 persons | 1,580 | 1.6 | 7.3 | 1,947 | 2.3 | 8.0 | -367 |
| 6 or more persons | 683 | 0.7 | 4.2 | 1,178 | 1.4 | 4.7 | -495 |
| Total classifiable households | 97,746 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 85,426 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +12,320 |
| Household size - Summary | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Sydney - Enumerated | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Dwellings | Number | % | Greater Sydney % | Number | % | Greater Sydney % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Occupied private dwellings | 104,787 | -- | -- | 98,001 | -- | -- | +6,786 |
| Persons in occupied private dwellings | 197,979 | -- | -- | 192,614 | -- | -- | +5,365 |
| Average household size (persons per dwelling) | 1.89 | -- | 2.68 | 1.97 | -- | 2.72 | -0.08 |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the number of persons usually resident in a household in the City of Sydney compared with Greater Sydney shows that there were a higher proportion of lone person households, and a lower proportion of larger households (those with 4 persons or more). Overall there were 41.1% of lone person households, and 8.7% of larger households, compared with 23.2% and 28.8% respectively for Greater Sydney.
The major differences in the household size for the City of Sydney and Greater Sydney were:
- A larger percentage of households with 1 person usually resident (41.1% compared to 23.2%)
- A larger percentage of households with 2 persons usually resident (38.6% compared to 30.7%)
- A smaller percentage of households with 4 persons usually resident (6.4% compared to 17.3%)
- A smaller percentage of households with 5 persons usually resident (1.6% compared to 7.3%)
Emerging groups
The number of households in City of Sydney increased by 12,320 between 2016 and 2021.
The largest changes in the number of persons usually resident in a household in the City of Sydney between 2016 and 2021 were:
- 1 person (+8,303 households)
- 2 persons (+4,888 households)
- 6 or more persons (-495 households)
- 4 persons (-440 households)
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