Greater Sydney

Local workers - Individual income quartiles - All industries

In Greater Sydney, the 'highest group' quartile is the largest group, comprising 30% of the local workers.

Individual Income is an indicator of socio-economic status, skills and occupations required in a particular industry. With other data sources, such as Qualifications and Occupation, it helps to evaluate the economic opportunities of people in an industry.

Income quartiles are used to condense income categories into manageable units, adjust for the effects of inflation, and allow areas to be compared over time relative to a benchmark. The incomes for a specified industry for the state are split into four equal groups, each containing 25% of the workers in that industry, and the quartiles allow users to compare changes in that industry in the local area to changes statewide, or against another benchmark. For more information on how quartiles are calculated please refer to the data notes.

As well as being related to the type of jobs and qualifications required in a particular industry, income levels can be related to the level of part-time employment, Occupations, Qualifications and the Age structure of the local workers, so the data should be looked at in conjunction with these topics.

Data source

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work

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Local workers individual income quartiles
Greater Sydney - All industries 20212016Change
Quartile groupNumber%. New South WalesNumber%. New South Wales2016 - 2021
Lowest group470,94020.925.0446,44721.625.0+24,493
Medium lowest515,03222.925.0474,75622.925.0+40,276
Medium highest584,41626.025.0537,14726.025.0+47,270
Highest group679,39030.225.0610,49929.525.0+68,891
Total Persons2,249,778100.0100.02,068,848100.0100.0+180,930

Source: Derived from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented .id (informed decisions).

Please refer to specific data notes for more information
Quartile group dollar ranges (Individuals)
Calculated from income data for New South Wales Weekly income by Census year
Individual quartile ranges20212016
Lowest group$0 to $636$0 to $555
Medium lowest$637 to $1,027$556 to $906
Medium highest$1,028 to $1,619$907 to $1,431
Highest group$1,620 and over$1,432 and over
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Dominant groups

Income quartiles allow us to compare relative income-earning capabilities across time. Analysis of the distribution of the workers by income quartile compared to New South Wales shows that there was greater proportion of in the highest income quartile, and a lesser proportion in the lowest income quartile.

Emerging groups

The most significant change for the local workers between 2016and 2021 was in the "highest group" quartile which showed an increase of 68,891 people.

Greater Sydney

economic profile