Singleton vs Lake Macquarie

Singleton and Lake Macquarie are both regional New South Wales areas, but they differ sharply in how people get around. Lake Macquarie is much more walkable, with a score of 5.0 (somewhat walkable) compared to 2.9 (mostly car-dependent) in Singleton. This is seen in the daily landscape: 89.2% of homes in Lake Macquarie are within a 10-minute walk of public transport, whereas only 53.1% of homes in Singleton have that access. Lake Macquarie also has far more amenities within a 15-minute walk, including a higher share of homes near schools (68.4% versus 36.8%) and parks (88.9% versus 60.3%).

These differences in urban layout stand out, but the two areas are almost identical in the share of people who speak a First Nations language, at 2.6% in Singleton and 3.4% in Lake Macquarie. While Lake Macquarie has a far larger Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, the educational gap for First Nations residents is narrowing, with Year 12 completion now 36.2% in Lake Macquarie and 30.4% in Singleton.