Spanish
453 speakers
Spanish is spoken by 453 of our residents at home, 0.6% of Blue Mountains.
We are Blue Mountains
5 per cent.
5 in every 100 Blue Mountains residents speak a language other than English at home. 3,957 people, in 87 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.
- Our population
- 77,349
- Speak another language
- 3,957
- Languages at home
- 87
- Growth since last census
- +5.3%
Most of us speak English at home. 3,957 of us do not, across 87 languages, most often Spanish, German and Mandarin. Small communities are the ones a mainstream service misses first and notices last — which is the whole reason to count them.
In New South Wales
#50
of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #248 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
German
318 speakers
German is spoken by 318 of our residents at home, 0.4% of Blue Mountains.
Mandarin
218 speakers
Mandarin is spoken by 218 of our residents at home, 0.3% of Blue Mountains.
The languages of Blue Mountains
87 languages carry the conversation at home. Every one of them is spoken here.
Each block below is scaled to the number of people who speak that language at home, and tinted by how fast that community has grown since the last census.
- Grew 50%+
- 25%+
- 10%+
- Held
- Slipped
- Declined 10%+
- Not comparable
Every language, in order
Speakers at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016. Broader ABS categories such as “Chinese, nfd” are counted in our totals but left out of this list, so the percentages can exceed the sum of the languages shown.
Fastest-growing among us
Spanish
+19.8% since last census
We share this portrait because a council below the New South Wales average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 3,957 of us do not, at home, and a service that reaches everyone except them has not reached everyone. This almanac exists so that the number is on the record before the decision is made.
Spanish grew 19.8% since the last census, to 453 speakers. A community growing at that rate is one whose translation needs are ahead of the last set of figures anyone commissioned.
Who we are, beyond language
Where we were born
14.5% of us were born overseas, across 100 countries.
- 01England4,302-2.0%
- 02New Zealand1,154+2.1%
- 03United States of America506+35.7%
- 04Germany483-6.8%
- 05Scotland483-2.6%
- 06India308+40.0%
- 07Netherlands302-6.5%
- 08South Africa301+33.2%
- 09Philippines262+26.6%
- 10Ireland238+4.4%
What we believe
Reported affiliation in Blue Mountains at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
- 01No religion or secular beliefs37,163+31.1%
- 02Christianity34,612-14.1%
- 03Buddhism1,084+4.0%
- 04Islam226+50.7%
- 05Hinduism216+22.0%
- 06Judaism116-0.9%
Our suburbs
Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 24 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.
- Medlow BathTop language — Vietnamese12%68
- LapstoneTop language — Spanish8%80
- KatoombaTop language — Vietnamese8%619
- Mount VictoriaTop language — French7%72
- LeuraTop language — Mandarin7%315
- Linden (NSW)Top language — Mandarin6%34
- Wentworth FallsTop language — Spanish6%363
- BlackheathTop language — Spanish6%262
- Woodford (NSW)Top language — Spanish6%102
- BullaburraTop language — Spanish5%67
- Blaxland (NSW)Top language — Spanish5%371
- Lawson (NSW)Top language — Auslan5%144
- Mount WilsonTop language — Spanish5%25
- Mount RiverviewTop language — Polish5%150
- HazelbrookTop language — Polish5%225
- Hawkesbury HeightsTop language — Non-verbal, so described4%20
- WarrimooTop language — Dutch4%101
- GlenbrookTop language — Russian4%209
- Springwood (NSW)Top language — Spanish4%320
- FaulconbridgeTop language — Spanish4%152
- WinmaleeTop language — Spanish3%210
- Valley HeightsTop language — Italian2%35
- Yellow Rock (Blue Mountains - NSW)Top language — Greek1%13
- Blue Mountains National Park0%0
- 24 suburbs in Blue Mountains. Percentage is residents speaking a language other than English at home; the figure beneath it is how many people that is.
Where we are
Blue Mountains shaded by the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. Boundaries are ABS ASGS 2021. See every council on one map.
In context
- Blue Mountains
- 5.1%
- New South Wales
- 25.7%
- Australia
- 21.3%
5.1% of Blue Mountains residents speak a language other than English at home, against 25.7% for New South Wales and 21.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 Census.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, language used at home by Statistical Area Level 2, aggregated to Local Government Area. Growth compares 2021 against the 2016 Census.
How the headline share is counted. 5.1% is 3,957 residents as a share of all 77,349 of us. A further 2,680 did not state a language at all, and we do not count them as speaking one — counting every non-response as a non-English speaker would put this figure at 8.6%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 5.3%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Blue Mountains, it is almost certainly one of those two.
Two further caveats we would rather state than bury. Summing suburbs omits residents not allocated to one — no usual address, migratory and unincorporated areas — so national totals sit a little under the ABS published figures; the Blue Mountains figures on this page are unaffected. And ranked language lists exclude ABS residual categories such as “Chinese, nfd”, which are not languages anyone can order a translation in; they remain inside the headline total.
Need this community reached in its own languages? Talk to us about translation in Blue Mountains.