As of the 2016 Census, there were 33,695 people in Palmerston. The median age of persons in Palmerston was 28 years. 18.9% of the population of Palmerston were children aged between 5–14 years, and 47.1% were persons aged 25–54 years. 74.8 per cent of Palmerston's population are Australian born; the biggest overseas birthplaces were England (692 or 2.9 per cent), New Zealand (437 or 1.9 per cent), the Philippines (278 or 1.2 per cent), Papua New Guinea (144 or 0.6 per cent) and East Timor (116 or 0.5 per cent).