Essential services workers such as police, nurses and school teachers settle in outer Sydney suburbs where property is more affordable while professionals including lawyers and doctors cluster in neighbourhoods close to the central business district.

That is the trend revealed by analysis of census figures showing which Sydney suburbs have the highest number of workers in a range of common occupations.

The 10 Sydney suburbs with the most lawyers were an average of only four kilometres from the CBD, while the average for the 10 most popular suburbs with doctors was 12 kilometres from the CBD.

It was a very different pattern for police officers. The 10 Sydney suburbs where the highest numbers of police live were an average of 40 kilometres from the CBD. For both school teachers and nurses the average was 27 kilometres from the CBD.