Parramatta

Development Activity

Schools in Parramatta iICSEA: school advantage index. 1000 = national avg, higher = more advantaged

Demographics

The demographic profile is more student-and-professional than gateway-suburb. Born overseas at 73.7% runs 52.1 percentage points above the national average, university qualification at 66.5% sits 36.4 percentage points higher, and median age of 32 is eight years below the national figure. The ancestry tally reads 8,233 Indian residents, 4,621 Chinese, 2,580 English, and a 9,033 'Other' cohort that includes Lebanese, Nepali, Arabic, and South Asian sub-groups not separately captured. Language data confirms the Indian-Chinese-Lebanese pivot: 1,668 Hindi speakers, 1,213 Mandarin, 849 Nepali, 531 Arabic, and 492 Cantonese, with no single non-English language exceeding 6% of residents. Religiously, 10,155 Hindu residents form the plurality faith ahead of 6,631 Christian and 2,274 Muslim, an inversion compared to Auburn or Lakemba where Islam leads. Average household size of 2.4 sits just below the 2.5 national figure and reflects the apartment-share dominance, with 29.7% of households being couples without children.

Housing structure is the headline story. Parramatta records 85.9% apartments against 7.7% separate houses and 5.7% semi-detached, a flat-to-house ratio that is genuinely uncommon in suburban Australia outside Melbourne CBD and a handful of Gold Coast strata towers. Tenure splits 71.8% renters, 18.4% mortgaged owners, and just 9.8% owned outright, compared to the 31% national outright-ownership benchmark, an inversion that explains the IER decile-1 reading more than any income deficit. Bedroom mix runs 65.1% two-bedroom, 16.5% one-bedroom-or-studio, 14.5% three-bedroom, and 3.9% four-plus, giving the suburb the thinnest family-housing slice in any NSW SEIFA-IEO-9 postcode. Density at 5,772 persons/sqkm is among the highest in metropolitan Sydney outside the CBD itself. The PSI price series shows a $1,335,900 read in 2024 falling to $641,000 in 2025, a -52% movement that almost certainly reflects mix shift and small-sample noise rather than a real value collapse, so the $1,175,000 reference median is the more defensible anchor.

Community Profile

Economy & Employment

Parramatta is a working economic node, not a residential satellite. Professional/Tech at 24.7% (3,252 workers) leads industry employment, followed by Healthcare at 13.6% and Finance at 11.3%, a white-collar mix that mirrors the Sydney CBD itself rather than middle-ring suburbia. The occupational profile reads 6,760 Professionals against 1,700 Managers and 1,942 Clerical/Admin, with Labourers only fifth at 1,081, an inversion against Western Sydney comparables like Auburn where labourers typically lead. SEIFA tells the full story: IEO 1104 and IRSAD 1052 sit in deciles 9 and 8 nationally, while IER 858 lands in decile 1 because 71.8% of residents are renters and the income base is bifurcated between high-earning professionals and transient apartment occupants. Household income of $2,092/week ranks in the 79.2nd percentile, yet unemployment of 7.8% runs above the 4% national average, a tension explained by credential-lag among recent overseas arrivals rather than structural disadvantage.

Transport to Work

Liveability metrics rank Parramatta among the strongest transit-oriented suburbs in Sydney. Public transport mode share runs 26.7%, roughly double the metro average of 14%, reflecting the T1 Western, T5 Cumberland, and ferry network all converging at the interchange, with Sydney Metro West due late this decade. Nine schools sit within the boundary, headlined by Our Lady of Mercy College (Independent, ICSEA 1144, 1,097 students), Parramatta Public School (ICSEA 1134), and Parramatta High School (ICSEA 1132, 1,128 students), with eight of nine scoring above the 1,000 ICSEA national mean. Western Sydney University's vertical campus anchors the tertiary footprint, and Westfield Parramatta is one of the largest retail centres in NSW. The IRSAD decile of 8 places overall socioeconomic conditions in the top 20% nationally, well above Auburn (decile 4) or Bankstown, while the IRSD decile of 4 reflects the transient-renter base rather than deep disadvantage. Density at 5,772/sqkm and apartment dominance are the trade-offs against quieter neighbours.

Population Forecast

Forecast trajectory is the steepest in the inner-west catchment. Population is projected to climb 3.52% annually to roughly 17,751 (suburb-level dwelling-base figure) by 2031, an additional 525 persons each year on a 5.23 sqkm footprint. The migration profile is heavily overseas-skewed: +908 net overseas arrivals/yr against -433 net internal outflow/yr, a 2.1-to-1 ratio that mirrors Chatswood and Hurstville but at higher absolute volume. Real income growth has run 29.2% over a decade and rent growth 28.6%, suggesting purchasing power has held while affordability has improved 9.5 points (from 49.7 in 2011 to 40.2 in 2021). Gentrification scoring sits at 30/100 ('Early signs') because Parramatta is in the middle of a CBD-rebuild cycle: Sydney Metro West, the Powerhouse Parramatta cultural precinct, and the WSU vertical campus are all maturing simultaneously. Expect the apartment-supply pipeline (195 DAs in 12 months) to keep rents anchored while two-bedroom strata pricing repositions on Metro proximity over the next five years.

National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs

How Parramatta compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs

Frequently Asked Questions