Households
Household Size
About this topic
Household size shows how many people live in each household. It is a basic but important measure of family life, dwelling use, and the way people share housing.
This topic helps indicate demand for different dwelling sizes and can reflect life-cycle patterns, cultural norms, and affordability pressures. It is best read with household type, age structure, and dwelling type, because changes in household size can happen for very different reasons.
Interpretation notes
- This counts the number of people usually resident in the dwelling, so it describes shared living arrangements rather than dwelling size.
- Household size should be read with bedrooms or dwelling structure before drawing conclusions about crowding or housing suitability.
Key insight
In 2021, 2 persons was the most common household size among households in Merrylands (part), accounting for 24.3% (2,413 households). This share was lower than Cumberland (A) (24.7%). Since 2016, the biggest change was in 1 person, which increased by 492 households and 3.2 percentage points.
Section overview
Household size
Merrylands (part) - Households (Enumerated)
This table summarises household size for Merrylands (part) in 2021 for persons, with comparison against Cumberland (A) and change since 2016.
This area boundary has changed from 2016 to 2021. As a result, 2016 values are mapped onto 2021 suburb boundaries using ABS concordance.
Household size snapshot
2021 distribution by category for Merrylands (part), with comparison markers for Cumberland (A).
1 person
2 persons
3 persons
4 persons
5 persons
6 or more persons
Chart view
Household size change
Absolute change in category counts between 2016 and 2021.
1 person
+492
+3.2pp
2 persons
+235
+0.2pp
3 persons
+118
-0.4pp
4 persons
+69
-0.8pp
5 persons
-21
-1.2pp
6 or more persons
+8
-0.8pp
Data table
Household Size for Merrylands (part). Household size. 2021 and 2016 counts, percentages, and change compared with Cumberland (A).
| Category | 2021 | 2016 | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | % | Cumberland (A)% | Count | % | Cumberland (A)% | Count | pp | |
| 1 person | 2,251 | 22.7% | 19.5% | 1,759 | 19.5% | 18.0% | +492 | +3.2pp |
| 2 persons | 2,413 | 24.3% | 24.7% | 2,178 | 24.1% | 23.5% | +235 | +0.2pp |
| 3 persons | 1,773 | 17.9% | 19.1% | 1,655 | 18.3% | 18.8% | +118 | -0.4pp |
| 4 persons | 1,604 | 16.2% | 18.8% | 1,535 | 17.0% | 19.2% | +69 | -0.8pp |
| 5 persons | 975 | 9.8% | 9.4% | 996 | 11.0% | 10.7% | -21 | -1.2pp |
| 6 or more persons | 910 | 9.2% | 8.4% | 902 | 10.0% | 9.7% | +8 | -0.8pp |
| Total classifiable households | 9,926 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 9,032 | 100.0% | 100.0% | +894 | 0.0pp |