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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
West Swan is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Perth, Australia, with a population of approximately 786, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 17 km from the Perth CBD, West Swan is a middle ring area in Western Australia. The median household income is $77,376 per year.
West Swan has a solid income profile that supports reliable occupancy rates.
Official Australia Post postcode for West Swan. 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 West Swan 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.
West Swan is a smaller community of 786 — about 14% of the Western Australia suburb median (5,605) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. West Swan's median household income of $77,376/year is 22% 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 rent of $350/week (~$1,517/month) covers only 58% of the median mortgage of $2,600/month — the remaining $1,083/month must be funded from other income, so this suburb tilts toward capital growth rather than yield. 17 km from Perth places West Swan in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs.
How West Swan stacks up against the median of all Western Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean West Swan sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | West Swan | WA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 786 | 5,605 | -86% |
| Median household income | $77,376/yr | $99,736/yr | -22% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $350 | $350 | 0% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $2,600 | $1,902 | +37% |
| Distance to CBD | 17 km | 20 km | -15% |
| Separate houses | 80% | 79% | +1pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for West Swan — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 786 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Western Australia market over full cycles.
Weak cash flow: $350/week rent covers only 58% of the $2,600/month median mortgage — a $1,083/month gap that must be funded from other income. This suburb is a capital-growth play, not a yield play.
With 80% houses in a 786-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Run the numbers on a West Swan property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for West Swan are modest for 2026 — incomes 22% below the WA median of $99,736 and a population of 786 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~58% of the typical mortgage ($1,517/month rent vs $2,600/month repayment), meaning investors will rely on capital growth rather than yield. The EquitySight investment score of 53/100 places West Swan 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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West Swan scores 53/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 786, median household income of $77,376/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 West Swan are proximity to Perth (17 km), a median household income of $77,376/year, a dwelling mix that is 80% 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.
West Swan has a usual resident population of approximately 786, 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.
West Swan sits 17 km straight-line from the Perth CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $350 in West Swan, 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 West Swan is $2,600, or approximately $31,200/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 58% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,600/month. That leaves a $1,083/month shortfall (around $12,996/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 (786 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,600 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($77,376 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.