Shortland-Jesmond and Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest are among the youngest and oldest areas in the country, according to new Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
The Regional Population by Age and Sex 2020 report released Friday ranked statistical areas' median ages - the age at which half the population is older and half is younger.
Australian Bureau of Statistics demographer Andrew Howe said statistical areas with populations of less than 2000 were not ranked.
Thanks to a high university population, Shortland-Jesmond has the youngest median age in NSW, at just 26 years.
A strong demographic of students in Waratah-North Lambton (34.2 years) also ranked the area fourth in the Hunter for youngest population, behind Thornton-Millers Forest (33.2 years) and Maitland (34.1 years).
On the other end of the scale, at 63.4 years the retirement community of Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest has the highest median age of any statistical area in the country.
The median age there has grown by 0.7 in just two years with more than 46 per cent of the population aged 65 or older.
Mr Howe said the country was aging, particularly in capital city areas due to a slowdown in international migration, which had kept the population younger before the country's borders were closed in March 2020.
"Migrants are generally younger than people who are already in Australia so migration helps to keep the population younger," he said.
The next three oldest areas in the Hunter were all in Port Stephens. Nelson Bay Peninsula was second with a median age of 52.8 years, followed by Anna Bay at 50 years and Lemon Tree Passage-Tanilba Bay at 49.8 years.
As well as having a young population, Shortland-Jesmond also had one of the highest ratios of men to women in the Hunter. The area came in fourth with a ratio of 105 (out of every 100 women), after Muswellbrook Region at 106.6, Muswellbrook at 105.5 and Cessnock at 105.3.
Mount Hutton-Windale had the lowest ratio of men to women at 89, followed by Warners Bay-Boolaroo at 91.6 and Wallsend-Elermore Vale at 92.3.
