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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Rivervale is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Perth, Australia, with a population of approximately 10,897, making it a smaller community. Located 5 km from the Perth CBD, Rivervale is a middle ring area in Western Australia. The median household income is $89,596 per year.
Household incomes in Rivervale sit in a comfortable mid-range for the Western Australia market. Its proximity to the CBD adds a strong location premium.
Official Australia Post postcode for Rivervale. 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 3 schools within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Rivervale on My School →Estimated 4 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.
Rivervale's population of 10,897 sits 94% above the Western Australia suburb median of 5,605, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average WA locality. Household income of $89,596/year is 10% below the Western Australia median of $99,736, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Rent of $350/week (86% coverage of the $1,760/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $243/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. At 5 km from the Perth CBD, Rivervale sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks. Only 36% 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.
Middle-ring locations like this one historically reward patient holders — focus on homes near catchment-zone schools and major transport. Local rents consume roughly 20% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Rivervale stacks up against the median of all Western Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Rivervale sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Rivervale | WA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 10,897 | 5,605 | +94% |
| Median household income | $89,596/yr | $99,736/yr | -10% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $350 | $350 | 0% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,760 | $1,902 | -7% |
| Distance to CBD | 5 km | 20 km | -75% |
| Separate houses | 36% | 79% | -43pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Rivervale — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Rivervale's 10,897-person market and $89,596 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Strong rental coverage: $350/week (~$1,517/month) covers 86% of the $1,760/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $243/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
Only 36% 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 Rivervale property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Rivervale are modest for 2026 — incomes 10% below the WA median of $99,736 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~86% of the typical mortgage ($1,517/month rent vs $1,760/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 70/100 places Rivervale in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is constructive heading into the second half of 2026.
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Rivervale scores 70/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 10,897, median household income of $89,596/year and median weekly rent of $350. 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 Rivervale are proximity to Perth (5 km), a median household income of $89,596/year, a dwelling mix that is 36% separate houses, roughly 3 schools and 4 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.
Rivervale has a usual resident population of approximately 10,897, compared with a Western Australia suburb median of 5,605 — placing it in the upper 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.
Rivervale sits 5 km straight-line from the Perth CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Perth employment nodes.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $350 in Rivervale, equating to approximately $18,200/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 Rivervale is $1,760, or approximately $21,120/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 $350 works out to $1,517/month, covering 86% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,760/month. That leaves a $243/month shortfall (around $2,916/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 $1,760 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (36% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, 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.