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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Calista is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Perth, Australia, with a population of approximately 1,975, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 33 km from the Perth CBD, Calista is a outer metro area in Western Australia. The median household income is $49,556 per year.
Lower income levels in Calista typically translate to more affordable entry points for investors. Greater distance from the CBD may temper short-term capital growth.
Official Australia Post postcode for Calista. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Estimated 1 school within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Calista on My School →Estimated 1 park and green spaces near this suburb.
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Calista is a smaller community of 1,975 — about 35% of the Western Australia suburb median (5,605) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Calista's median household income of $49,556/year is 50% below the Western Australia suburb median ($99,736) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. Rent of $250/week (83% coverage of the $1,300/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $217/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. At 33 km from Perth, Calista is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price. Only 61% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 79% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
How Calista stacks up against the median of all Western Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Calista sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Calista | WA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,975 | 5,605 | -65% |
| Median household income | $49,556/yr | $99,736/yr | -50% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $250 | $350 | -29% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,300 | $1,902 | -32% |
| Distance to CBD | 33 km | 20 km | +65% |
| Separate houses | 61% | 79% | -18pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Calista — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 1,975 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Western Australia market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $250/week covers 83% of a $1,300/month mortgage, leaving a $217/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
Only 61% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 79% WA median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Run the numbers on a Calista property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Calista are modest for 2026 — incomes 50% below the WA median of $99,736 and a population of 1,975 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~83% of the typical mortgage ($1,083/month rent vs $1,300/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 35/100 places Calista in the lower tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
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Calista scores 35/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a weak rating. That score is driven by a population of 1,975, median household income of $49,556/year and median weekly rent of $250. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.
The main demand drivers in Calista are a median household income of $49,556/year, a dwelling mix that is 61% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 1 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.
Calista has a usual resident population of approximately 1,975, compared with a Western Australia suburb median of 5,605 — placing it in the lower half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
Calista sits 33 km straight-line from the Perth CBD. This is an outer-metro location; local employment and infrastructure announcements tend to move prices more than CBD connectivity alone.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $250 in Calista, equating to approximately $13,000/year in gross rental income (state median $350/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Calista is $1,300, or approximately $15,600/year (vs $1,902/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
A median weekly rent of $250 works out to $1,083/month, covering 83% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,300/month. That leaves a $217/month shortfall (around $2,604/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (1,975 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,300 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($49,556 vs $99,736 state median), the broader Western Australia market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.