Occupation maps: The most common job in every Brisbane suburb revealed

Birds of a feather flock together, they say. But what about accountants and solicitors? And truck drivers?

Analysis by Brisbane Times using the latest census data has shed light on the most common job in each Brisbane suburb.

There are two suburbs in Brisbane – one on either side of the river – where sales and marketing managers can be found en masse, while there are two distinct patches where store people, or warehouse workers, call home. These are just some of Brisbane’s worker tribes revealed by the census figures.

The map below shows the most common job in each suburb of Greater Brisbane. Keep in mind that the map demonstrates the most common job in each suburb; it does not mean that more than half of the workers do that job.

Bulimba on the southside and Newstead on the northside are the two suburbs dominated by sales and marketing managers.

However, if you are queuing for coffee in Teneriffe and New Farm chances are you will be flanked by solicitors, as that is the most common profession in the two neighbouring inner-city, riverside suburbs.

As for accountants, their preferred locales are Rochedale in the city’s south and Chelmer in the west.

Yet, sales assistant is by far the most common job across Brisbane, as it is for Sydney and Melbourne. It is the dominant occupation in 272 Brisbane suburbs (or nine out of 10 suburbs).

That is partly due to how the Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies occupations, with the job acting as a catch-all for many retail professions.

“It’s anyone who works in a shop,” said Glenn Capuano, demographer for Informed Decisions.

“Wherever the population is largest, you’re always going to see people working in shops. We are now a largely service-driven economy, so [sales assistant] is the most ubiquitous occupation. One hundred years ago, it might have been farmer, because we were an agriculture-driven economy.”

KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley noted many sales assistants were also part-time workers.

“Whether you go to a Myer or a Woolworths, or any retail shop, there will be someone behind the counter working away, and there are a lot of part-time workers in that category,” he said.

Charlotte Jardim is among those part-time sales assistants. She works at a Forever New clothing store while studying a dual law and arts degree.

The 20-year-old University of Queensland student who lives in St Lucia has previously worked in hospitality, but prefers retail as the hours are more friendly.

“I am really loving retail. It’s something easy to do on the side of uni,” she said. “I’m not a fan of the late nights you can get in hospitality.”

Meanwhile, being a waiter is the most common job for those who reside in the CBD, which was also true for Sydney and Melbourne CBDs. In neighbouring Spring Hill, it’s commercial cleaner.

There is a cluster of nine suburbs stretching south from Woodridge through Kingston, Crestmead and Park Ridge where you are most likely to find someone working as a storeperson (someone who receives and sorts goods in a warehouse). A similar cluster exists around Redbank and Goodna.

Further south, Jimboomba is the home of the truck driver.

Rawnsley said it was no great surprise to see those clusters of workers.

“Over the last 50 years, the economy has become more polarised,” he said.

“Thirty years ago, on a street in Paddington, you could have a solicitor, a teacher and a blue-collar worker living side by side.

“Today, the inner-city suburbs are dominated by higher-income, white-collar professionals, with lawyers and accountants all clustered around the CBD, while those with manufacturing, construction, wholesaling and warehousing jobs are scattered in the outer suburbs.”

He pointed to the two clusters of store people in Logan and Ipswich as examples.

“That’s where a lot of industrial land sits in the city and there are big freeways, so that’s where those warehouses are and where those workers have clustered,” he said.

The suburb of Inala, in Brisbane’s south, is an outlier. The most common occupation there is beauty therapist. This could be a reflection of the suburb’s cultural demographic, but Capuano said it could also be indicative of the fact that “people aren’t necessarily living close to where they work”.

“They’ll be filling a job where they can,” he said.

Australian National University demographer Liz Allen said the major factors determining where someone lives were affordability and lifestyle.

“We’re not seeing that people see a whole bunch of people that perhaps work in their industry located in an area so they locate there. It is far more about ‘well, can I afford this area, given the amenities that I prioritise?’” Allen said.

“We have this insidious myth that Australia is a largely egalitarian place. Geography shows us that it is not.

“Australia has a class system, and it is largely determined by your postcode.”

You can see a list of the 10 most common jobs in your area – and whether yours is one of them – using our interactive. Type your job in the box below and follow the prompts to our visual story. It starts out by taking you through the typical earnings for your occupation before breaking down the top jobs in your suburb.

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