Median age 35. 41% families. 51% professionals. 62% no religion. 398 hip venues. Safety score: 2.
Toggle between origin groups to see how demographics vary across Surry Hills at microburb level.
Surry Hills packs wildly different communities into a small footprint. The map above shows the cultural fault lines at SA1 level.
The Cleveland St / Belvoir St corridor (south): As low as 37% Australian-born. Up to 30% East/SE Asian origin and 8% South Asian. This is the most diverse strip in the suburb, running along the border with Redfern. Student housing, share houses, affordable restaurants. The highest Middle Eastern concentration (3.9%) sits here too. This is where new arrivals to Sydney land.
The Albion St pocket (centre): 32% Asian origin, 4.9% Sub-Saharan African. A dense, multicultural corridor of apartment blocks and terraces. Bourke Street Public School (NAPLAN top 10%) draws families from across this area. Not wealthy, but working.
The Bourke St / Nobbs St pocket (north-east): 74% Australian-born. Quietly the most "Australian" part of Surry Hills. Older terraces, long-term residents. NW European heritage (8%). These are the people who were here before the warehouse conversions.
The Oxford St / Bennett St strip (north-west): 18% NW European origin, 55% Australian. The pub-and-terrace belt. Irish, British and Kiwi expats mixing with born-and-bred Sydneysiders. Close to the Oxford Street bars and the CBD. Creative types, agency workers, people who walk to work.
The Arthur St pocket: 68% Australian-born but 11% Asian. A mixed zone of young professionals in newer apartments alongside old terrace-house locals. The transitional edge where gentrified Surry Hills meets Central Station.
The typical Surry Hills resident is 35, single or coupled without children, and works in tech or finance. They earn $2,310 a week at the household level. One in three holds a university degree. They walk to work more often than they drive (12.3% vs 9.8%), and their commute to the CBD takes 13 minutes by car or 15 by public transport. They chose this suburb for its energy, not its peace.
This is Sydney's most progressive inner-city village. Only 40.9% of households are families. The rest are young professionals sharing terrace houses, solo renters in converted warehouses, and creative types who have been here since before the gentrification wave. With 398 hip venues, 63 late-night spots, and 11 nightclubs, the suburb never really sleeps. Crown Street on a Thursday night is busier than most suburbs on a Saturday.
Surry Hills scores 81 for community, which is strong given the transient nature of inner-city living. The average resident stays just 3.9 years. But the community is not built on longevity. It is built on density and shared spaces. Shannon Reserve hosts weekend picnics. The Bourke Street strip is a de facto town square. Neighbours meet at the coffee machine, not the letterbox.
The safety score of 2.2 out of 100 is the number that jumps off the page. This is one of the least safe suburbs in Greater Sydney by reported crime. Night safety sits at 59.5%. Homelessness runs at 2.7% and public housing at 8.3%. The suburb holds its gritty edges alongside $15 flat whites. That contrast is the point. People who want sterile safety move to the North Shore.
At just 40.9% family households, Surry Hills is not a family suburb. The age pyramid tells the story: the 30-34 bracket holds 16.6% of the population, and the 25-29 bracket holds 16.5%. Children aged 0-14 make up under 6% combined. Young professionals dominate. Couples tend to move out when the first child arrives, heading to the inner west or eastern suburbs where schools and parks are more plentiful.
Only 52.4% of Surry Hills residents were born in Australia. That is well below the national average of 67%. The Asian community at 14% is the second-largest cultural group after Australians (55.5%). England contributes 6.8%. The mix includes strong South Asian, South American, and Oceanian contingents. This is an international suburb. Walk down Crown Street and you will hear four languages within a block. Yet 74.7% of the suburb speaks only English at home.
Surry Hills is Sydney's tech and creative hub. A quarter of all workers (24.9%) are in science and technical services. Financial services follow at 12.1%, then health at 10.3%. Over half the workforce (50.7%) are professionals, and another 20.8% are managers. White collar workers dominate at 85%. The business activity score hits a perfect 100. Atlassian, Canva, and dozens of startups have offices within walking distance.
Conservatism score: 13.7%
Surry Hills is one of the most left-leaning suburbs in Australia. A full 76.1% support left-wing parties. Only 18.2% lean right. The conservatism score of 13.7% is among the lowest in New South Wales. This sits within the federal Division of Sydney, contested between Labor and teal independents. The suburb backed marriage equality at over 80% in the 2017 postal vote. Progressive politics here are not a trend. They are baseline.
This profile covers who lives here. The full Surry Hills Suburb Report adds street-level price data, growth forecasts, school rankings, crime data and 200+ metrics.
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