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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Rottnest Island is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Perth, Australia, with a population of approximately 166, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 33 km from the Perth CBD, Rottnest Island is a outer metro area in Western Australia. The median household income is $106,184 per year.
Above-average earnings in Rottnest Island support sustained property values. Greater distance from the CBD may temper short-term capital growth.
Official Australia Post postcode for Rottnest Island. 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 Rottnest Island 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.
Rottnest Island is a smaller community of 166 — about 3% of the Western Australia suburb median (5,605) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Households here earn $106,184/year on average — 6% above the WA suburb median of $99,736 — a modest premium that supports resilient owner-occupier demand. The median weekly rent of $113 translates to approximately $5,876/year in gross rental income, setting the upper bound on yield before vacancy, rates, insurance and maintenance. At 33 km from Perth, Rottnest Island is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price. 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.
How Rottnest Island stacks up against the median of all Western Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Rottnest Island sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Rottnest Island | WA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 166 | 5,605 | -97% |
| Median household income | $106,184/yr | $99,736/yr | +6% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $113 | $350 | -68% |
| Distance to CBD | 33 km | 20 km | +65% |
| Separate houses | 36% | 79% | -43pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Rottnest Island — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 166 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Western Australia market over full cycles.
Gross rent of $113/week (~$5,876/year) sets the yield ceiling. Cross-check against your purchase price to confirm whether this suburb hits the 4–5% gross yield most Australian investors target.
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 Rottnest Island property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Rottnest Island are modest for 2026 — incomes 6% above the WA median of $99,736 and a population of 166 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rents sit around $113/week, setting the baseline gross rental income at roughly $5,876/year — refine this against current listings before running your numbers. The EquitySight investment score of 50/100 places Rottnest Island 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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Rottnest Island scores 50/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 166, median household income of $106,184/year and median weekly rent of $113. 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 Rottnest Island are an above-state-median household income of $106,184/year, a dwelling mix that is 36% 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.
Rottnest Island has a usual resident population of approximately 166, 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.
Rottnest Island 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 $113 in Rottnest Island, equating to approximately $5,876/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.
A reliable median mortgage figure was not captured for Rottnest Island. Use our loan serviceability calculator to estimate a realistic monthly repayment for your target purchase price and deposit.
Census data was not complete enough in Rottnest Island to compute a clean rent-to-mortgage coverage. Use current listings to benchmark weekly rent, then plug your expected purchase price into our rental yield calculator to see whether the investment runs cash-flow positive or negative.
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (166 residents), interest-rate sensitivity, 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.