We are Tamworth

5 per cent.

5 in every 100 Tamworth residents speak a language other than English at home. 3,143 people, in 66 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
62,597
Speak another language
3,143
Languages at home
66
Growth since last census
+75.8%

Most of us speak English at home. 3,143 of us do not, across 66 languages, most often Mandarin, Vietnamese and Tagalog. 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

#51

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #252 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Mandarin

422 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 422 of our residents at home, 0.7% of Tamworth.

Vietnamese

329 speakers

Vietnamese is spoken by 329 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Tamworth.

Tagalog

286 speakers

Tagalog is spoken by 286 of our residents at home, 0.5% of Tamworth.

The languages of Tamworth

66 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
The 18 most spoken languages in Tamworth, covering 2,524 speakers. Area is speakers at the 2021 Census; tint is the change since 2016. Every figure is also in the table below.

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.

  1. 01
    Mandarin
    422+86.7%
  2. 02
    Vietnamese
    329+467%
  3. 03
    Tagalog
    286+43.0%
  4. 04
    Punjabi
    224+129%
  5. 05
    Nepali
    211+470%
  6. 06
    Malayalam
    150+200%
  7. 07
    Filipino
    150+53.1%
  8. 08
    Gamilaraay
    139+1638%
  9. 09
    Arabic
    87+156%
  10. 10
    Hindi
    72-8.9%

Fastest-growing among us

Mandarin

+86.7% 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. 3,143 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.

Mandarin grew 86.7% since the last census, to 422 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

6.9% of us were born overseas, across 70 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    816+11.5%
  2. 02
    Philippines
    508+27.6%
  3. 03
    India
    472+114%
  4. 04
    New Zealand
    402+1.0%
  5. 05
    Vietnam
    310+546%
  6. 06
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    261+107%
  7. 07
    Nepal
    225+449%
  8. 08
    Taiwan
    170+88.9%
  9. 09
    South Africa
    116-7.9%
  10. 10
    Fiji
    90+131%

What we believe

Reported affiliation in Tamworth at the 2021 Census, with the change since 2016.

  1. 01
    Christianity
    36,493-11.4%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    19,795+68.0%
  3. 03
    Hinduism
    516+148%
  4. 04
    Buddhism
    338+28.0%
  5. 05
    Islam
    322+98.8%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    3

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 40 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Tamworth 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

Tamworth
5.0%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

5.0% of Tamworth 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. 5.0% is 3,143 residents as a share of all 62,597 of us. A further 4,461 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 12.1%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 5.4%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Tamworth, 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 Tamworth 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 Tamworth.