Rhodes emerges as Sydney's best educated neighbourhood

Rhodes has emerged as the best-educated neighbourhood in Sydney. A huge number of residents aged 15 years and over have a postgraduate degree, the biggest share in the metropolitan area.

This is according to data from the 2016 census provided by the Bureau of Statistics to Fairfax Media. Westmead, where one of the country’s biggest teaching hospitals is situated, follows with 26.3 percent. Next highest were Dawes Point with 25.8 percent and St Leonards with 24.2 percent.

Rhodes and Longueville had the city's equal highest share of residents with degrees that could either be a postgraduate degree, postgraduate diploma, postgraduate certificate or bachelor’s degree with 73 percent. St Leonards and Pymble are next with a close 72.2 percent.

The highest share of residents with a bachelor degree was the inner-suburb of Darlington with 50.8 percent. The numbers suggest that high levels of educational attainment are getting more dispersed across the city.

The latest census results show that 56 percent of Australians who are 15 years old and over hold a non-school qualification, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. This is comparable with 46 percent in 2006.

The share of Aussies who have completed a bachelor degree or above has increased from 18 percent to 24 percent. An analysis of the census released by the bureau stated that this growth is likely to continue given 21 percent of all students in the country were attending university in 2016 compared with only 16 percent one decade ago.

Many of the 20 suburbs with the biggest share of postgraduates in 2011 were on Sydney's lower north shore and inner-west. By last year, the list included more middle-ring suburbs in both the city's west and north-west.

The biggest total number of postgraduates of any Sydney suburb (3,597) has been recorded in Parramatta. The settlement patterns of skilled migrants have helped push this shift in the distribution of high educational qualifications.

Those born overseas were more likely to have a non-school qualification (60 percent) compared to people born here (54 percent), the result of the census also show. This has something to do with the high share of Rhodes residents with a post-graduate qualification as 80.3 percent of that suburb's population was born overseas.

Another factor was said to be the correlation between postgraduates and high-density living. Most of the top suburbs for postgraduates had more than double the share of residents living in a flat compared to the Sydney-wide average.