The index, by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, ranks areas and allocates a score according to the "relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage" of households.

In the first revision of the rankings in five years, the Bureau lists Cringila, Bellambi, Koonawarra, Lake Illawarra, Warilla, Unanderra, Port Kembla and Brownsville among the most disadvantaged places in the Illawarra.

FULL LIST: How our suburbs rate

Warrawong is the region's most disadvantaged suburb, and the 33rd-most disadvantaged in NSW.

Berkeley, with its high public housing stock and many young families, is considered the seventh most disadvantaged in the Illawarra.

Berkeley parent Devonia Milosevski said the suburb was home to a diverse demographic, and this was part of its appeal.

"My daughter has just started high school and she has friends from all backgrounds," Mrs Milosevski said.

"[There are] parents who don't have cars, parents who don't work, parents who go overseas for holidays."

"The kids get to mix with all kinds. They learn to appreciate what they've got."

The bureau defines socio-economic advantage and disadvantage according to people's "access to material and social resources, and their ability to participate in society".

A score is calculated using a complex formula of differently weighted variables, including household income, education levels, number of cars, employment status, with the average score pegged at 1000.

Government bodies use the index to guide decisions on where to allocate funding for improved services; businesses look to it when deciding where to invest.

Maria Di Carlo, co-ordinator and community development worker at Berkeley Neighbourhood Centre, is hopeful the data will give governments cause to invest in services and activities for the area's youth, who "have nothing to do after school".

The centre's 20 volunteers provide a rich program of activities, including a craft group, Barnardos-supported playgroup, a mental health social group, lessons in break dancing, cooking workshops and computer classes, which have become a hit with older people.

"The people we see experience very high economic hardship," Mrs Di Calo said.

"They rely on sick benefits or unemployment benefits. But they're beautiful people."

Glenda, a long-term resident of Berkeley who didn't want to give her surname, said she had seen a radical shift in its demographics since the 1970s.

She believes the rise of shopping complexes in Warrawong, Wollongong and Dapto sapped Berkeley of some of its sense of community when small specialty shops closed.

"I remember as a child knowing all the names of the shopkeepers," she said.

"All these sort of things changed.

"There's been an influx of young families into the area.

"There needs to have services for the new generation of families. [Demand] for services for seniors is probably not as great as it was 10 years ago."

The index is part of the four-pronged Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas.