SourceTargetCommunity Atlas
We are Blue Mountains

We are Blue Mountains.

Home to one of the larger Spanish-speaking communities in New South Wales, and 77 other language communities besides.

Our population
77,341
Speak another language
6,633
Languages at home
15+
Growth since last census
+26.8%
78 languages are spoken at home in Blue Mountains. Spanish leads (453 speakers), with German close behind (318). 9 per cent of us speak a language other than English at home. That is the measure of a community that has not left its languages behind.
speak Spanish at home
453
Our largest community language, Spanish, is spoken by 0.6% of Blue Mountains residents at home.
What makes our community ours
Spanish
453 speakers

453 speakers, 0.6% of Blue Mountains. +20% since 2021.

German
318 speakers

318 speakers, 0.4% of Blue Mountains. -21% since 2021.

Mandarin
218 speakers

218 speakers, 0.3% of Blue Mountains. -9% since 2021.

The languages of Blue Mountains

78 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.

Spanish
453 · +19.8%
German
318 · -20.5%
Mandarin
218 · -9.2%
French
210 · +17.3%
Polish
182 · +14.5%
Russian
161 · +47.7%
Thai
142 · +65.1%
Arabic
141 · +62.1%
Italian
140 · -45.1%
Vietnamese
140 · +33.3%
Greek
134 · -34.0%
Japanese
129 · +9.3%
Cantonese
116 · +6.4%
Dutch
89 · +2.3%
Hindi
88 · +27.5%
GROWTH ≥ 50%
≥ 20%
≥ 5%
≥ 0%
≥ -10%
DECLINING
  1. 01
    Spanish453 · 0.6%
    19.8%
  2. 02
    German318 · 0.4%
    20.5%
  3. 03
    Mandarin218 · 0.3%
    9.2%
  4. 04
    French210 · 0.3%
    17.3%
  5. 05
    Polish182 · 0.2%
    14.5%
  6. 06
    Russian161 · 0.2%
    47.7%
  7. 07
    Thai142 · 0.2%
    65.1%
  8. 08
    Arabic141 · 0.2%
    62.1%
  9. 09
    Italian140 · 0.2%
    45.1%
  10. 10
    Vietnamese140 · 0.2%
    33.3%
  11. 11
    Greek134 · 0.2%
    34.0%
  12. 12
    Japanese129 · 0.2%
    9.3%
Fastest-growing among us
Thai
+65.1% since last census

We publish this so our residents can see themselves counted, and so the agencies, funders and neighbours who serve us can see who we actually serve. Language access is not a translation line-item in our budget. It is how an emergency notice reaches a grandparent, how an enrolment form is understood, and how a health campaign actually lands in the suburbs that make up our council.

Our suburbs
Where we are
In context
Blue Mountains
8.6%
New South Wales
31.4%
Australia
27.3%

8.6% of Blue Mountains residents speak a language other than English at home, against 31.4% for New South Wales and 27.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 census.