page_title: Ponsonby, New Zealand
section_title: Demographics
hierarchical_section_title: Ponsonby, New Zealand / Demographics
caption_attribution_description: English: A cafe on Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby, Auckland City, New Zealand. The cafe is called Dorothy's Sister - a play on "Friend of Dorothy", a slang term for a homosexual. Ponsonby was long known as the gay quarter of Auckland.
context_page_description: Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb of Auckland located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD, in the North Island of New Zealand. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north–south, which is followed by the main street of the suburb, Ponsonby Road.
  A predominantly upper-middle class residential suburb, Ponsonby today is also known in Auckland for its dining and shopping establishments – many restaurants, cafes, art galleries, up-market shops and nightclubs are located along Ponsonby Road.
  The borders of Ponsonby are often seen as being rather fluid, taking in St Mary's Bay and Herne Bay to the north and including Freemans Bay to the east and Grey Lynn to the south - Ponsonby is properly bounded by Jervois Road to the North and Richmond Road to the south but extends down Ponsonby road all the way to the Karangahape road corner - the boundary with Freemans Bay to the east is less clear. The area was originally a working class to middle class area.
  From the Great Depression until the 1980s it contained many rundown buildings, and had a somewhat 'colourful' reputation.
context_section_description: Ponsonby, comprising the statistical areas of Ponsonby West and Ponsonby East, had a population of 5,730 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 153 people (2.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 243 people (4.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 2,085 households. There were 2,763 males and 2,967 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.93 males per female, with 951 people (16.6%) aged under 15 years, 1,299 (22.7%) aged 15 to 29, 2,970 (51.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 513 (9.0%) aged 65 or older.
  Ethnicities were 83.4% European/Pākehā, 8.8% Māori, 8.6% Pacific peoples, 9.2% Asian, and 3.2% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).
  The proportion of people born overseas was 29.6%, compared with 27.1% nationally.
  Although some people objected to giving their religion, 58.2% had no religion, 31.2% were Christian, and 5.6% had other religions.
  Of those at least 15 years old, 2,415 (50.5%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 273 (5.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,063 (64.1%) people were employed full-time, 639 (13.4%) were part-time, and 144 (3.0%) were unemployed.
  While official statistics are not collected, Ponsonby is also popularly imagined as having a large gay population relative to other Auckland suburbs. A survey by the NZ AIDS Foundation has however found that the stereotype seems to be true, and that the area and the directly adjacent suburbs have a (in comparison) very high percentage of gay people, possibly attracted by the fact that they feel more at ease in an environment where gay people are relatively commonplace.
caption: Ponsonby has a big cafe culture as well as a historical reputation for being Auckland's gay quarter.
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