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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Merriwa is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Perth, Australia, with a population of approximately 5,587, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 35 km from the Perth CBD, Merriwa is a middle ring area in Western Australia. The median household income is $65,260 per year.
Household earnings in Merriwa are below the state average, which may affect long-term capital growth. Greater distance from the CBD may temper short-term capital growth.
Official Australia Post postcode for Merriwa. 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 Merriwa on My School →Estimated 2 parks 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.
5,587 residents places Merriwa squarely in the middle of the Western Australia suburb size distribution (state median 5,605), with market depth comparable to most WA localities. Merriwa's median household income of $65,260/year is 35% 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. Median weekly rent of $330 equates to $1,430/month — about 95% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,500/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. At 35 km from Perth, Merriwa is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price.
This suburb suits long-term investors looking for a balance of rental yield and capital growth. Schools and transport underpin family demand. Local rents consume roughly 26% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Merriwa stacks up against the median of all Western Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Merriwa sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Merriwa | WA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 5,587 | 5,605 | 0% |
| Median household income | $65,260/yr | $99,736/yr | -35% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $330 | $350 | -6% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,500 | $1,902 | -21% |
| Distance to CBD | 35 km | 20 km | +75% |
| Separate houses | 69% | 79% | -10pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Merriwa — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: household incomes 35% below the WA median ($65,260 vs $99,736) means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Western Australia market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage: $330/week (~$1,430/month) covers 95% of the $1,500/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $70/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
Only 69% 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 Merriwa property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Merriwa are modest for 2026 — incomes 35% below the WA median of $99,736 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~95% of the typical mortgage ($1,430/month rent vs $1,500/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 51/100 places Merriwa in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.
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Merriwa scores 51/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 5,587, median household income of $65,260/year and median weekly rent of $330. 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 Merriwa are a median household income of $65,260/year, a dwelling mix that is 69% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 2 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.
Merriwa has a usual resident population of approximately 5,587, 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.
Merriwa sits 35 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 $330 in Merriwa, equating to approximately $17,160/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 Merriwa is $1,500, or approximately $18,000/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 $330 works out to $1,430/month, covering 95% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,500/month. That leaves a $70/month shortfall (around $840/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 interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,500 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($65,260 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.