Erskineville is a diverse suburb homing to a wide variety of ethnicity from its varying Southeast Europe and Aboriginal community.

Erskineville is bordered by the suburbs of Newtown to the west, Redfern to the north, St Peters to the south, and Alexandria to the east.

The suburb was originally called Macdonaldtown after an earlier subdivision in 1846 in the south of Erskineville owned by Stephen Macdonald.

[2] Nicholas Devine, the first principal superintendent of convicts called his land Burren Farm, after a region of County Clare in his native Ireland.

The streets around the early Macdonaldtown subdivision are named after relations of the Macdonald family - Amy, Flora, Eve, Coulson and Rochford.

[5] On 19 July 1872, the first council, consisting of six aldermen in one electorate, was elected (Charles Brandling Henderson, Henry Knight, James Bryan, Alexander Swanson, William Irwin and James Heighington), with Henry Knight elected as the first mayor at the first meeting on 23 July 1872.

[8][9] In the late nineteenth century, the inhabitants were originally market gardeners, though brick making and tanning also became dominant industries.

In the early twentieth century, manufacturing in the area diversified, and Erskineville became a resolutely working class inner city suburb.

[10][11][12] From the 1970s, Erskineville underwent gentrification with new residents attracted to the village atmosphere, public transport links and the proximity to the CBD.

Transdev John Holland operate a service from Marrickville Metro shopping centre to Bondi Junction through Erskineville.

On the day of the Census, 6.2% of employed people used public transport as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 13.9% used car (either as driver or as passenger).