Camden leads Sydney's projected population additions; the City leads jobs

Camden and Blacktown carry the largest projected population additions

The Sydney Plan projects that the population across its 33 councils will grow from 5,349,366 in 2026 to 6,581,300 in 2046. The difference is 1,231,934 people. Camden has the largest projected addition at 146,549. Blacktown follows at 123,806. Parramatta, Liverpool and The Hills complete the top five.

These are projected additions, not annual growth rates or delivery targets. A large addition does not show where homes are approved, feasible or complete.

The largest population additions are spread across Sydney

Camden, Blacktown, Parramatta, Liverpool and The Hills account for 588,618 of the 1,231,934 projected additional residents. The next five councils are Canterbury-Bankstown, Penrith, Wollondilly, Bayside and Ryde. The map does not form one continuous growth corridor. Each council still needs its own check of housing capacity, transport, services and delivery timing.

Council totals show scale while local distribution remains unknown

The symbols locate the LGA totals. They do not locate future homes, centres or infrastructure. A large circle can cover a large and varied council. Local planning still needs site, centre, transport and servicing evidence.

The City, Liverpool and Parramatta carry the largest job ranges

The City of Sydney has the largest published additional-jobs range. Its two endpoints are 93,500 and 143,000 by 2046. Liverpool follows at 92,800 to 108,200. Parramatta ranges from 75,500 to 87,100. Penrith and The Hills complete the top five at the high endpoint.

The Plan publishes two aspirational endpoints, not a single forecast. A midpoint would be an invented value, so we did not calculate one.

The City leads both job endpoints, and the leading group changes

The five largest base endpoints account for 367,100 of the published 684,500 base additions, or 53.6%. The five largest high endpoints account for 462,700 of 950,500, or 48.7%. By comparison, the five largest population additions account for 47.8% of the regional total. Those figures do not support a broad claim that job growth is more concentrated.

The City ranks first at both job endpoints. Camden and Blacktown sit in the population top five but not the jobs top five. That difference raises a local planning question: how will residents reach employment when the two rankings diverge? This comparison identifies the question but cannot answer it.

Three councils appear near the top of both growth measures

Liverpool, Parramatta and The Hills appear in both the five largest projected population additions and the five largest job-range high endpoints. Camden and Blacktown are in the population top five but not the jobs top five. The City and Penrith are in the jobs top five but not the population top five.

The overlap does not prove that housing and jobs are balanced. It identifies the councils where readers should check housing, employment, transport and infrastructure plans together.

One year of approvals is too short for a 20-year growth programme

As a separate context check, we reviewed the official 2025 ABS Building Approvals extract held in our database. The retained extract covers all 33 councils and all 12 months. Approvals record administrative activity, not progress against a 2046 population projection or job target. We therefore publish no approvals ranking in this comparison.

Housing, jobs and infrastructure need a shared timetable

Sydney's largest projected population additions and largest job ranges are not the same set. The City leads jobs, while Camden leads projected population growth. Liverpool, Parramatta and The Hills rank in the top five on both measures.

That split changes the local planning task. Councils need to compare housing feasibility, intended employment capacity, transport projects and servicing programmes on the same timetable. This comparison identifies where those checks belong together. It does not show that any target is feasible or on track.

Methodology, limitations and sources

How we built the comparison

Population projections

We recorded the 2026 and 2046 population values from each Appendix D overview. We subtracted the first value from the second. We ranked the exact additions. The 33 additions sum to 1,231,934 people.

Job-target ranges

We recorded the 2026 jobs baseline and the separate base and high additions on each employment page. We ranked the two endpoints independently. The 33 ranges sum to 684,500 to 950,500 additional jobs. We did not use the overview value where the independently rounded range did not reconcile exactly.

Geography

The maps use frozen Australian Bureau of Statistics LGA 2025 boundaries joined by LGA code. The boundaries are a statistical approximation, not legal or cadastral boundaries. Population circles use area scaling and LGA label points.

Limitations

• Population values are projections, not guaranteed outcomes.
• Job values are aspirational target ranges, not forecasts.
• A range endpoint is not a probability or confidence interval.
• LGA totals do not locate growth within a council.
• The comparison does not assess housing feasibility, infrastructure capacity, funding, travel behaviour or project timing.
• Building approvals are separate administrative observations and are not a measure of 2046 delivery.