SourceTargetCommunity Atlas
We are Townsville

We are Townsville.

Home to one of the larger Tagalog-speaking communities in Queensland, and 117 other language communities besides.

Our population
190,139
Speak another language
28,315
Languages at home
15+
Growth since last census
+24.3%
118 languages are spoken at home in Townsville. Tagalog leads (905 speakers), with Malayalam close behind (791). 15 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 Tagalog at home
905
Our largest community language, Tagalog, is spoken by 0.5% of Townsville residents at home.
What makes our community ours
Tagalog
905 speakers

905 speakers, 0.5% of Townsville. +38% since 2021.

Malayalam
791 speakers

791 speakers, 0.4% of Townsville. +42% since 2021.

Italian
546 speakers

546 speakers, 0.3% of Townsville. -20% since 2021.

The languages of Townsville

118 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.

Tagalog
905 · +37.5%
Malayalam
791 · +41.8%
Italian
546 · -20.3%
Mandarin
482 · -5.7%
Swahili
467 · +97.0%
Filipino
427 · -1.4%
Spanish
418 · +12.4%
Punjabi
400 · +59.4%
Vietnamese
397 · +26.8%
Korean
392 · +47.4%
German
384 · -17.2%
Afrikaans
359 · +3.2%
Hindi
314 · +13.8%
Cantonese
295 · -5.4%
French
291 · +32.9%
GROWTH ≥ 50%
≥ 20%
≥ 5%
≥ 0%
≥ -10%
DECLINING
  1. 01
    Tagalog905 · 0.5%
    37.5%
  2. 02
    Malayalam791 · 0.4%
    41.8%
  3. 03
    Italian546 · 0.3%
    20.3%
  4. 04
    Mandarin482 · 0.3%
    5.7%
  5. 05
    Swahili467 · 0.2%
    97.0%
  6. 06
    Filipino427 · 0.2%
    1.4%
  7. 07
    Spanish418 · 0.2%
    12.4%
  8. 08
    Punjabi400 · 0.2%
    59.4%
  9. 09
    Vietnamese397 · 0.2%
    26.8%
  10. 10
    Korean392 · 0.2%
    47.4%
  11. 11
    German384 · 0.2%
    17.2%
  12. 12
    Afrikaans359 · 0.2%
    3.2%
Fastest-growing among us
Swahili
+97.0% 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
Townsville
14.9%
Queensland
15.8%
Australia
27.3%

14.9% of Townsville residents speak a language other than English at home, against 15.8% for Queensland and 27.3% nationally. Drawn from the 2021 census.