The City of Penrith is a local government area in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The seat of the city is located in Penrith, located within Sydney about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Sydney central business district. It occupies part of the traditional lands of the Darug people. First incorporated as a municipality on 12 May 1871, on 1 January 1949, the municipalities of Penrith, St Marys and Castlereagh and part of the Nepean Shire amalgamated to form a new Municipality of Penrith. Penrith was declared a City on 21 October 1959, and expanded westwards to include Emu Plains and Emu Heights, formerly part of the City of Blue Mountains, on 25 October 1963. As of the 2021 census the City of Penrith had an estimated population of 217,664. It is a member council of the Hawkesbury River County Council.

The mayor of the City of Penrith is Todd Carney, a member of the Labor Party. (No relation to the rugby league player)

The following suburbs and localities are located within the City of Penrith:

The Municipality of Penrith was incorporated on 12 May 1871 under the Municipalities Act 1858 (NSW). On 3 March 1890, St Marys was separately incorporated, and on 26 July 1893 and 9 September 1895, Mulgoa and Castlereagh followed respectively. In 1913, Mulgoa became the "A" Riding of the neighbouring Nepean Shire.

On 1 January 1949, under the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, the Municipalities of Penrith, St Marys and Castlereagh and A Riding of the Nepean Shire amalgamated to form a new Municipality of Penrith. It was declared a City on 21 October 1959, and expanded westwards to include Emu Plains and Emu Heights, formerly part of the City of Blue Mountains, on 25 October 1963.

This section needs expansion with: 2016 census data. You can help by adding to it. (July 2017)

At the 2021 census, there were 217,644 people in the Penrith local government area, of these 49.4% were male and 50.6% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5% of the population; notably above the national average of 3.4%. The median age of people in the City of Penrith was 35 years; notably below the national median of 39 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.2% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.9% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 45.5% were married and 12.3% were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in the City of Penrith between the 2001 Census and the 2006 census was 0.15% and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 3.68%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Penrith local government area was significantly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Penrith was on with par with the national average.

At the 2021 census, the proportion of residents in the Penrith local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 63.5% of all residents (national average was 58.4%). In excess of 28.7% of all residents in the City of Penrith area nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2021 census, which was fairly higher than the national average of 20%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Penrith local government area had a marginally lower than average proportion (23.9%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 24.8%); and a higher proportion (74.2%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 72%).

Selected historical census data for Penrith local government area
Census year			2001	2006	2011	2016	2021
Population		Estimated residents on census night	171,870	172,140	178,467	196,066	217,644
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		7th	8th	13th	9th
		% of New South Wales population			2.58%	2.63%	2.67%
		% of Australian population	0.92%	0.87%	0.83%	0.84%	0.85%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian			29.1%	26.3%	33.3%
		English			25.2%	24.5%	30.2%
		Irish			6.8%	7.2%	8.2%
		Scottish			5.3%	5.5%	6.7%
		Maltese			3.0%	2.8%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Arabic	1.3%	1.5%	1.6%	1.6%	1.8%
		Tagalog	1.3%	0.8%	1.0%	1.1%	1.2%
		Italian	1.0%	0.9%	0.8%	0.9%
		Maltese	0.8%	0.8%	0.8%	0.7%
		Hindi	0.6%	0.7%	0.8%	0.9%	1.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	34.5%	34.9%	35.2%	32.1%	28.7%
		Anglican	26.1%	24.7%	23.6%	18.4%	13.1%
		No religion	9.8%	11.9%	14.0%	21.1%	28.9%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	3.4%	3.1%	2.9%
		Uniting Church	3.7%	3.1%	2.7%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$517	A$623	A$728	A$866
		% of Australian median income		110.9%	108.0%	109.6%	106.52%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,147	A$1,582	A$1,858	A$2188
		% of Australian median income		111.7%	106.8%	107.1%	100.14%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,285	A$1,398	A$1,658	A$1903
		% of Australian median income		109.7%	113.3%	111.5%	104.05%

Term	Aldermen/Councillors	Wards	Mayor
1871–1891	9	No wards	Annual election by Aldermen
1891–1893	12
1893–1948	9
1949–1950	24	Ward One (9, Penrith) Ward Two (9, St Marys) Ward Three (3, Nepean) Ward Four (3, Castlereagh)
1950–1959	12 (3 per ward)	Ward One Ward Two Ward Three Ward Four
1959–1963	13 (3 per ward: 12 Aldermen, 1 Mayor)		Direct triennial election
1963–1968	13 (4 per ward: 12 Aldermen, 1 Mayor)	North Ward South Ward East Ward
1968–1987	12 (4 per ward)		Annual election by Aldermen/Councillors
1987–date	15 (5 per ward)

Penrith City Council is composed of fifteen councillors elected proportionally as three separate wards, each electing five councillors. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council for a two-year term, while the deputy mayor is elected for a single-year term only. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021. The current council is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Australian Labor Party	4
	Liberal Party of Australia	6
	Independents	4
	Vacant Seats	1
	Total	15

The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election by ward, is:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
East Ward		Bernard Bratusa	Liberal
		Tricia Hitchen	Liberal	Mayor 2022-2023; Deputy Mayor 2016–2017, 2020–2021
		Todd Carney	Labor	Mayor 2023–Present; Deputy Mayor 2022–2023
		Marlene Shipley	Independent
		Robin Cook	Labor
North Ward		John Thain	Labor	Mayor 2005–2006, 2016–2018; Deputy Mayor 2004–2005
		Ross Fowler OAM	Liberal	Mayor 1995–1996, 2013–2015, 2018–2020; Deputy Mayor 2015–2016
		Glenn Gardiner	Liberal
		Jonathan Pullen	Independent	Member of the Multicultural Working Party and the Recreation Working Party. Was a member of the Labor Party until 2022.
		Kevin Crameri OAM	Independent	Mayor 1996–1997, 2009–2011; Deputy Mayor 1988–1989.
South Ward		Karen McKeown OAM	Labor	Mayor 2015–2016, 2020–2021; Deputy Mayor 2006–2007, 2019–2020
		Mark Davies	Liberal	Mayor 2012–2013; Deputy Mayor 2023–Present
		Mark Rusev	Labor
		Sue Day	Independent
		Jim Aitken OAM	Resigned	Mayor 2008–2009; Deputy Mayor 2010–2011, 2013–2014. Resigned 2023.

Mayor		Party	Term	Notes
	Patros Athanas Tornaros	Labor	1 January 1949 – 5 December 1949
	Bill Chapman	Independent	5 December 1949 – 11 December 1956
	Bernard Noel Fowler	Independent	11 December 1956 – 11 December 1957
	Leo Joseph Spies	Labor	11 December 1957 – 19 April 1961
	Bill Chapman	Independent	3 June 1961 – December 1968
	Ron Mulock	Labor	December 1968 – September 1971
	Brian King	Independent	September 1971 – September 1974
	Eileen Cammack OBE	Independent	September 1974 – September 1977
	Brian King AM	Independent	September 1977 – September 1985
	Kevin Dwyer OAM	Independent	September 1985 – September 1987
	Rodney Field	Independent	September 1987 – September 1988
	Kevin Dwyer OAM	Independent	September 1988 – September 1989
	Brian King AM	Independent	September 1989 – September 1990
	Faye Lo Po' AM	Labor	September 1990 – September 1991
	Tony Aquilina		September 1991 – September 1992
	Bill Gayed	Independent	September 1992 – September 1993
	Diane Beamer	Labor	September 1993 – September 1994
	Pat Sheehy		September 1994 – September 1995
	Ross Fowler	Independent	September 1995 – September 1996
	Kevin Crameri OAM	Independent	September 1996 – September 1997
	Kevin Dwyer OAM	Independent	September 1997 – September 1998
	John Bateman OAM	Independent	September 1998 – September 2000
	David Bradbury	Labor	September 2000 – September 2001
	Pat Sheehy		September 2001 – September 2002
	Greg Davies		September 2002 – April 2004
	David Bradbury		April 2004 – September 2004
	Jackie Greenow	Independent	September 2004 – September 2005
	John Thain	Labor	September 2005 – September 2006
	Pat Sheehy AM		September 2006 – September 2007
	Greg Davies		September 2007 – September 2008
	Jim Aitken OAM	Independent	September 2008 – September 2009
	Kevin Crameri OAM	Independent	September 2009 – September 2011
	Greg Davies	Labor	September 2011 – September 2012
	Mark Davies	Liberal	September 2012 – 23 September 2013
	Ross Fowler OAM		23 September 2013 – September 2015
	Karen McKeown OAM	Labor	September 2015 – 26 September 2016
	John Thain		26 September 2016 – 24 September 2018
	Ross Fowler OAM	Liberal	24 September 2018 – 28 September 2020
	Karen McKeown OAM	Labor	28 September 2020 – 13 January 2022
	Tricia Hitchen	Liberal	13 January 2022 – October 2023
	Todd Carney	Labor	October 2023 – present

The City of Penrith is served by a weekly newspaper, The Western Weekender, which was founded in 1991. It produces a print edition each Friday as well as a digital news service. The newspaper is independently owned.

Since it signed its first agreement with Fujieda, Japan in 1984, Penrith City has gradually expanded its sister cities and international links programme. Presently Penrith has links with:

• Penrith, Cumbria, England – Sister City
• Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan – Sister City
• Hakusan City (incorporating Matto City), Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan – Friendship City
• Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China – Friendship City
• Xicheng District of Beijing City, China – Mutual Co-operation Agreement
• Gangseo-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea – Mutual Co-operation Agreement

The City of Penrith has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Penrith City Council website