We are Upper Hunter

4 per cent.

4 in every 100 Upper Hunter residents speak a language other than English at home. 501 people, in 43 languages — small enough to be overlooked, large enough to be a community.

Our population
14,151
Speak another language
501
Languages at home
43
Growth since last census
+30.1%

Most of us speak English at home. 501 of us do not, across 43 languages, most often Mandarin, Cantonese and Filipino. 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

#67

of 128 New South Wales councils for the share of residents speaking a language other than English at home. #319 of 540 nationally.

What makes our community ours

Mandarin

108 speakers

Mandarin is spoken by 108 of our residents at home, 0.8% of Upper Hunter.

Cantonese

29 speakers

Cantonese is spoken by 29 of our residents at home, 0.2% of Upper Hunter.

Filipino

29 speakers

Filipino is spoken by 29 of our residents at home, 0.2% of Upper Hunter.

The languages of Upper Hunter

43 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 Upper Hunter, covering 381 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
    108+108%
  2. 02
    Cantonese
    29+11.5%
  3. 03
    Filipino
    29-3.3%
  4. 04
    French
    20+233%
  5. 05
    Italian
    18+100%
  6. 06
    Portuguese
    18-10.0%
  7. 07
    German
    17-5.6%
  8. 08
    Urdu
    17+240%
  9. 09
    Tok Pisin (Neomelanesian)
    17+183%
  10. 10
    Tagalog
    16-55.6%

Why we publish this

3.5% of us

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. 501 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.

Who we are, beyond language

Where we were born

7.2% of us were born overseas, across 40 countries.

  1. 01
    England
    270+14.9%
  2. 02
    New Zealand
    185+10.1%
  3. 03
    China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
    95+126%
  4. 04
    Philippines
    65-19.8%
  5. 05
    Ireland
    61+3.4%
  6. 06
    Solomon Islands
    48
  7. 07
    India
    41+78.3%
  8. 08
    South Africa
    34+30.8%
  9. 09
    Netherlands
    23+667%
  10. 10
    Germany
    19+35.7%

What we believe

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

  1. 01
    Christianity
    8,814-12.7%
  2. 02
    No religion or secular beliefs
    4,124+72.8%
  3. 03
    Hinduism
    61+84.8%
  4. 04
    Buddhism
    47-24.2%
  5. 05
    Islam
    40+11.1%
  6. 06
    Judaism
    4

Our suburbs

Our linguistic character changes street by street. Click through to any of our 16 suburbs for its own portrait: the languages spoken there, the communities calling it home.

Where we are

Upper Hunter 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

Upper Hunter
3.5%
New South Wales
25.7%
Australia
21.3%

3.5% of Upper Hunter 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. 3.5% is 501 residents as a share of all 14,151 of us. A further 932 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 10.1%, which is a larger number and a weaker claim. Measured only across the residents who answered, the share is 3.8%. If you have seen a higher figure quoted for Upper Hunter, 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 Upper Hunter 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 Upper Hunter.