# Cessnock vs Great Lakes — 2021 Census comparison

Indigenous Area comparison · about 107 km apart

Great Lakes and Cessnock are two New South Wales regions with very different layouts. Great Lakes is more walkable, with 53.8% of homes within a 15-minute walk of groceries and 40.1% near health services, compared to just 24.5% and 11.6% in Cessnock. This helps Great Lakes earn a somewhat walkable score of 4.5, while Cessnock is mostly car-dependent at 3.6. However, Cessnock has a much larger First Nations population, with 6,487 people compared to 2,267 in Great Lakes.

These two areas are nearly identical in their average terrain slope and the share of people who speak a First Nations language. While they both have about 71% of homes within a short walk of public transport, the gap in First Nations household income is quite large, with Cessnock's typical income being $1,672 while Great Lakes is $1,201. This gap is far wider than the small differences seen in Year 12 completion rates between the two.

## First Nations

| Statistic | Cessnock | Great Lakes | Gap | Trend |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| First Nations people | 6,487 | 2,267 | 4,220 larger in Cessnock |  |
| Median age | 23 yrs | 27 yrs | 4 yrs older in Great Lakes |  |
| Year 12 | 26.9% | 25.6% | 1.3 pts higher in Cessnock |  |
| Unemployment | 9.7% | 12.2% | 2.5 pts higher in Great Lakes |  |
| Median income | $586 | $491 | $95 higher in Cessnock |  |
| Household income | $1,672 | $1,201 | $471 higher in Cessnock |  |
| Indigenous language | 1.9% | 2.2% | 0.3 pts higher in Great Lakes |  |

## Walkability

| Statistic | Cessnock | Great Lakes | Gap | Trend |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Walk score | 3.6 | 4.5 | 1.0 higher in Great Lakes |  |
| Types ≤15 min | 3.5 | 4.4 | 0.9 more in Great Lakes |  |
| 15-min city | 35.2% | 50.3% | 15.1 pts higher in Great Lakes |  |
| Walk to shops | 24.5% | 53.8% | 29.3 pts higher in Great Lakes |  |
| Walk to transit | 71.0% | 71.1% |  |  |
| Walk to school | 51.6% | 46.5% | 5.1 pts higher in Cessnock |  |
| Walk to a park | 77.9% | 71.5% | 6.3 pts higher in Cessnock |  |
| Walk to health | 11.6% | 40.1% | 28.5 pts higher in Great Lakes |  |
| Intersections/km² | 4 | 2 | 2 higher in Cessnock |  |
| Mean slope | 6.2% | 5.7% | 0.5 pts higher in Cessnock |  |

Interactive comparison: https://censusatlas.au/compare/iare/IARE104003/cessnock/vs/IARE104008/great-lakes