Mandarin
721 speakers
Mandarin is spoken by 721 of our residents at home, 2.3% of Cambridge.
We are Cambridge
16 per cent.
About 16 in every 100 Cambridge residents speak a language other than English at home, across 82 languages.
- Our population
- 31,428
- Speak another language
- 5,039
- Languages at home
- 82
- Growth since last census
- +10.8%
5,039 of us — 16.0% — speak a language other than English at home, most often Mandarin, Italian and Cantonese. A share this size is easy to design around by accident, which is precisely how it gets designed out.
In Western Australia
#23
of 137 Western Australia councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #125 of 540 nationally.
What makes our community ours
Italian
391 speakers
Italian is spoken by 391 of our residents at home, 1.2% of Cambridge.
Cantonese
244 speakers
Cantonese is spoken by 244 of our residents at home, 0.8% of Cambridge.
The languages of Cambridge
82 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
+42.7% since last census
We share this portrait because a council below the Western Australia average is the one most likely to be planned for as though everybody here reads English. 5,039 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 42.7% since the last census, to 214 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
30.7% of us were born overseas, across 97 countries.
- 01England2,121+4.9%
- 02Bhutan800+103%
- 03South Africa574+9.5%
- 04India523-10.0%
- 05New Zealand485-5.3%
- 06Malaysia473+24.8%
- 07China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)428+49.7%
- 08Ireland3960%
- 09United States of America322-1.5%
- 10Scotland295-10.9%
What we believe
Reported affiliation in Cambridge at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.
- 01No religion or secular beliefs14,018+36.7%
- 02Christianity13,973-7.5%
- 03Buddhism1,257+59.3%
- 04Hinduism603+1.9%
- 05Islam230+11.7%
- 06Judaism103-8.8%
Our suburbs
Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 4 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.
- WembleyTop language — Mandarin22%2,655
- West LeedervilleTop language — Italian15%589
- City BeachTop language — Italian12%817
- FloreatTop language — Mandarin11%978
- 4 suburbs in Cambridge. Percentage is residents speaking a language other than English at home; the figure beneath it is how many people that is.
Where we are
Cambridge 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
- Cambridge
- 16.0%
- Western Australia
- 17.3%
- Australia
- 21.3%
16.0% of Cambridge residents speak a language other than English at home, against 17.3% for Western Australia 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. 16.0% is 5,039 residents as a share of all 31,428 of us. A further 1,027 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 19.3%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 16.6%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Cambridge, 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 Cambridge 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 Cambridge.