# Gosford vs Northern Beaches — 2021 Census comparison

Indigenous Area comparison · about 35 km apart

Gosford and Northern Beaches are both coastal regions in New South Wales, but they offer very different levels of accessibility. Northern Beaches is very walkable, with 85.8% of homes within a 15-minute walk of groceries and 89.3% near a school. In contrast, Gosford is only somewhat walkable, and far fewer homes are within a 15-minute walk of health services (42.9%) or groceries (51.0%). There is also a significant gap in outcomes for First Nations people; in Northern Beaches, 62.6% of First Nations residents finished Year 12 and the typical personal income is $949, compared to 41.1% finishing Year 12 and a typical income of $616 in Gosford.

Both areas share a similar landscape, with almost identical mean terrain slopes of around 9.8%. While Northern Beaches has a higher number of intersections per square kilometre, both areas have a high proportion of homes within a 10-minute walk of public transport. Gosford has a far larger First Nations population (6,294 people) than Northern Beaches (1,706 people), though the typical age of First Nations residents is noticeably older in Northern Beaches.

## First Nations

| Statistic | Gosford | Northern Beaches | Gap | Trend |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| First Nations people | 6,294 | 1,706 | 4,588 larger in Gosford |  |
| Median age | 23 yrs | 27 yrs | 4 yrs older in Northern Beaches |  |
| Year 12 | 41.1% | 62.6% | 21.5 pts higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Unemployment | 9.3% | 6.2% | 3.1 pts higher in Gosford |  |
| Median income | $616 | $949 | $333 higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Household income | $1,678 | $2,724 | $1,046 higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Indigenous language | 3.9% | 5.8% | 1.9 pts higher in Northern Beaches |  |

## Walkability

| Statistic | Gosford | Northern Beaches | Gap | Trend |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Walk score | 5.4 | 7.5 | 2.0 higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Types ≤15 min | 5.1 | 7.0 | 1.9 more in Northern Beaches |  |
| 15-min city | 57.1% | 88.4% | 31.3 pts higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Walk to shops | 51.0% | 85.8% | 34.8 pts higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Walk to transit | 91.4% | 95.9% | 4.5 pts higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Walk to school | 60.2% | 89.3% | 29.0 pts higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Walk to a park | 91.7% | 98.4% | 6.7 pts higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Walk to health | 42.9% | 76.1% | 33.2 pts higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Intersections/km² | 15 | 78 | 63 higher in Northern Beaches |  |
| Mean slope | 9.8% | 9.7% | 0.2 pts higher in Gosford |  |

Interactive comparison: https://censusatlas.au/compare/iare/IARE104007/gosford/vs/IARE107020/northern-beaches