At the 2021 Census, 1.19 million people were studying at a university or other higher education provider: 5.7% of Australian residents aged 15 and over. They are unevenly spread. The share was 2.7% in localities of 201 to 999 residents and 6.7% in localities of 20,000 or more, and among larger suburbs it ran from 0.9% to 43.0%. The middle locality had 3.3%, well below the national figure, because students are concentrated in a small number of places.
Students are counted where they usually live, as stated at the Census of 10 August 2021.
What is measured
The Census asks what type of educational institution each person attends. Table G15 of the Census General Community Profile counts those at a university or other higher education provider, and those in vocational education, which includes TAFE and private training providers. The shares in this article divide those counts by the number of residents aged 15 and over. People are counted where they usually live, so a student who has moved to study is counted near the campus, not in the town they came from. Of all university students, 68.5% were studying full-time, and 48.4% were full-time students aged 15 to 24.
By state and territory
University students as a share of residents aged 15 and over, by state and territory, 2021
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, 2021, Tables G01 (selected person characteristics) and G15 (type of educational institution attending). University and other higher education students as a share of residents aged 15 and over. The share attending vocational education is shown in brackets.
The Australian Capital Territory stands apart, at 9.8%. Six of the other seven jurisdictions lie between 5.0% and 6.1%, and Tasmania is lowest at 4.3%. Vocational education is spread more evenly: its share of adult residents runs only from 2.3% to 3.2% across the states and territories.
By size of place
University students as a share of residents aged 15 and over, by the size of the locality
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, 2021, Tables G01 (selected person characteristics) and G15 (type of educational institution attending). University and other higher education students as a share of residents aged 15 and over. The share attending vocational education is shown in brackets. Localities are ABS Suburbs and Localities, grouped by their number of residents.
The university share rises steadily with the size of the place, from 2.7% in localities of 201 to 999 residents to 6.7% in the 143 localities of 20,000 or more, about two and a half times as high. The vocational share rises too, but by about half, from 2.2% to 3.4%. In the smallest localities in the chart the two are close; in the largest, university students outnumber vocational students by about two to one. Taken together, localities with 200 or fewer residents, which are not reported individually, had a university share of 1.5%.
How localities are spread
Number of localities by share of adult residents attending university
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, 2021, Tables G01 (selected person characteristics) and G15 (type of educational institution attending). The 6,951 localities with more than 200 residents, by the share of residents aged 15 and over attending university or other higher education, with the share of all university students living in each group.
Across the 6,951 localities with more than 200 residents, the middle locality had 3.3% of its adult residents at university, and in 59% of localities the share was under 4%. At the other end, 122 localities had 12% or more. Those localities hold 3.9% of adult residents and 12.5% of all university students.
The highest and lowest shares among larger suburbs
The lists below are limited to the 1,561 localities with at least 5,000 residents. In 116 of them at least one adult resident in ten was a university student, and in 19 at least one in five. The hundred with the highest shares were home to 14% of the country’s university students.
| Locality | State | Residents aged 15 and over | University students | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Lucia | Qld | 10,906 | 4,685 | 43.0% |
| Parkville | Vic. | 6,604 | 2,656 | 40.2% |
| Carlton | Vic. | 15,190 | 4,885 | 32.2% |
| Douglas | Qld | 6,593 | 1,903 | 28.9% |
| Clayton | Vic. | 17,420 | 4,841 | 27.8% |
| Chippendale | NSW | 7,529 | 2,084 | 27.7% |
| Kelvin Grove | Qld | 6,847 | 1,894 | 27.7% |
| Bruce | ACT | 6,734 | 1,797 | 26.7% |
| Campbell | ACT | 5,860 | 1,563 | 26.7% |
| Adelaide | SA | 17,259 | 4,471 | 25.9% |
Each of the ten highest contains or adjoins a university campus: St Lucia, Kelvin Grove and Douglas in Queensland; Parkville, Carlton and Clayton in Victoria; Chippendale in Sydney; Bruce and Campbell in Canberra; and the centre of Adelaide.
| Locality | State | Residents aged 15 and over | University students | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakes Entrance | Vic. | 4,388 | 41 | 0.9% |
| Bongaree | Qld | 7,617 | 73 | 1.0% |
| Collie | WA | 6,211 | 61 | 1.0% |
| Tuncurry | NSW | 5,765 | 58 | 1.0% |
| Capel Sound | Vic. | 4,593 | 49 | 1.1% |
| Nambucca Heads | NSW | 5,766 | 70 | 1.2% |
| Forster | NSW | 12,338 | 157 | 1.3% |
| Cootamundra | NSW | 5,733 | 76 | 1.3% |
| Ulladulla | NSW | 6,153 | 82 | 1.3% |
| Corowa | NSW | 4,780 | 66 | 1.4% |
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, 2021, Tables G01 (selected person characteristics) and G15 (type of educational institution attending). University and other higher education students as a share of residents aged 15 and over. Localities with at least 5,000 residents. Counts are as published by the ABS, which makes small random adjustments to protect confidentiality.
The ten lowest are regional and coastal towns in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. In each, fewer than 1.5% of adult residents were university students.
Where this sits in the index
Tertiary Node & Knowledge (24132) combines three measures for each locality: the share of adult residents studying at university, the distance to the nearest higher education provider, and enrolment in vocational education and training. This article reports the first of the three.
What this does not show
The figures show where students live while they study, not where they came from or where they will live afterwards. A low share in a country town does not mean its young people do not go to university; those who move away to study are counted where they study. The figures count enrolment, not completion, and they do not distinguish on-campus from online study. The Census was taken on 10 August 2021, seventeen months after Australia’s international border closed in March 2020, a period in which arrivals of international students were reduced. Results from the August 2026 Census will update these figures.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (Reference period: 2021) Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, tables G01 and G15, by Suburbs and Localities, state and Australia [https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/datapacks], ABS Website, accessed 11 October 2026.
ABS material is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Calculations, standardisations and index readings are APN’s and are not attributable to the ABS.
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Findings are presented on the basis of data and evidence alone.
