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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Derby is a regional centre in Western Australia, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,222, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 1801 km from the Perth CBD, Derby is a regional area in Western Australia. The median household income is $89,076 per year.
Household incomes in Derby sit in a comfortable mid-range for the Western Australia market. Distance from major centres is a consideration, though regional markets can offer higher rental yields.
Official Australia Post postcode for Derby. 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 Derby 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.
Derby is a smaller community of 3,222 — about 57% of the Western Australia suburb median (5,605) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Household income of $89,076/year is 11% below the Western Australia median of $99,736, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Weekly rent of $180 covers just 48% of the median $1,638/month mortgage repayment, leaving a $858/month gap — investors should only pursue this suburb with a clear capital-growth thesis and sufficient external income to fund the shortfall. Derby is 1801 km from Perth, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 62% 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.
Regional property can deliver strong cash-flow yields but liquidity is tighter — plan for longer hold periods and verify local employment stability. Local rents consume roughly 11% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Derby stacks up against the median of all Western Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Derby sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Derby | WA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,222 | 5,605 | -43% |
| Median household income | $89,076/yr | $99,736/yr | -11% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $180 | $350 | -49% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,638 | $1,902 | -14% |
| Distance to CBD | 1801 km | 20 km | +8905% |
| Separate houses | 62% | 79% | -17pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Derby — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Derby's 3,222-person market and $89,076 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Weak cash flow: $180/week rent covers only 48% of the $1,638/month median mortgage — a $858/month gap that must be funded from other income. This suburb is a capital-growth play, not a yield play.
Only 62% 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 Derby property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Derby are modest for 2026 — incomes 11% below the WA median of $99,736 and a population of 3,222 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~48% of the typical mortgage ($780/month rent vs $1,638/month repayment), meaning investors will rely on capital growth rather than yield. The EquitySight investment score of 48/100 places Derby in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
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Derby scores 48/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 3,222, median household income of $89,076/year and median weekly rent of $180. 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 Derby are a median household income of $89,076/year, a dwelling mix that is 62% 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.
Derby has a usual resident population of approximately 3,222, 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.
Derby sits 1801 km straight-line from the Perth CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $180 in Derby, equating to approximately $9,360/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 Derby is $1,638, or approximately $19,656/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 $180 works out to $780/month, covering 48% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,638/month. That leaves a $858/month shortfall (around $10,296/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 (3,222 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,638 median mortgage, 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.