IT’S official: Fairfield is the state’s most multicultural city.

The 2016 Census figures, released last week, reveal Fairfield has NSW’s highest number of residents – 78.3 per cent – with parents born overseas .

The most common ancestry is Vietnamese at 16.8 per cent, followed by Chinese at 11.4 per cent, Australian at 7.8 per cent, English at 6.9 per cent and Assyrian at 5.7 per cent.

More than 40 per cent of residents were born in Australia, but languages other than English are spoken in 75 per cent of Fairfield homes.

Jane Stratton, of the Think + Do Foundation, recently opened Lost In Books, a multilingual bookshop and creative space in the heart of Fairfield.

“The diversity in the population of Fairfield is a glimpse into the future of what Australia’s metropolitan cities are likely to become,” Ms Stratton said.

“Lost In Books was founded in the belief in the value of diversity.”

Ms Stratton said it was important to harness Fairfield’s multicultural diversity to improve the local and national economy.

“We need to understand how to work with different cultures, rather than expecting to have a mono-lingual society,” Ms Stratton said.

Ms Stratton said it was an exciting development in the Fairfield community.

“We all have to stretch a little,” she said.

“Speaking in other languages is not a disadvantage.”

THE STATS

There are 198,817 people living in Fairfield, an increase from 187,766 in 2011.

Men make up 49.3 per cent of residents, while women make up 50.7 per cent.

The average age of Fairfield residents is 36.

Fewer than 1 per cent of residents are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and their average age is 23.

There are 51,368 families in Fairfield, and those with children have an average of two in total.

Fairfield families’ average weekly income is $1263, down from the state average of $1780.

The most common languages, other than English, spoken at home are Vietnamese, Arabic, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Cantonese and Khmer.

Catholics, Buddhists and Muslims are keeping the faith in Fairfield, with their numbers rising slightly since 2011.

More residents also claimed no religion at all, with the percentage rising from 7.7 per cent in 2011 to 12.6 per cent in 2016.