Armadale (WA), WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Armadale is a suburb on the south-eastern edge of Perth, about 28 kilometres from the city centre at the foot of the Darling Range. It is also the administrative centre of the City of Armadale, Western Australia — a different place entirely from Armadale in Victoria, which is an inner Melbourne suburb in the City of Stonnington. The WA suburb (SAL50026) is a large outer-Perth community with its own LGA, its own distinct history, and demographics that differ sharply from the Melbourne namesake. The ABS 2021 Census (SAL50026) recorded 13,415 people in Armadale WA. The median age of 39 aligns with both WA (38) and national (38) figures, but much else diverges from state norms. Unemployment sits at 12.7% — roughly 2.5 times the WA and national rate of 5.1%. Median household income is $1,020 a week, against $1,815 across WA. Bachelor degree attainment is 8.0%, where WA averages 23.8%. The workforce concentrates in machinery operations (15.6%), trades (16.6%), and labouring (15.4%), which tracks the suburb’s character as a regional service and industrial hub on Perth’s outer edge. The suburb’s name came from the 1889 South Western Railway, when the new station was called Armadale to avoid confusion with the wheatbelt town of Narrogin. Settlement predates the station: a wayside inn at the junction of the Albany and Pinjarra roads operated from around 1853, when the district was still known as Neerigin. [HELD - FIRST NATIONS GATE: a sentence naming the traditional custodians of the Armadale district and a local Aboriginal interpretation centre was drafted here; held from publication per company.md section 5 (confirmed HOLD, no reviewer engaged) until reviewer sign-off and Lauren lifts the hold. Reinstatable after review.] The City of Armadale received its current designation in 1985 after progressing through Roads Board (1894), Council (1961), and Town Council (1979) designations. A heritage-registered jarrah tree estimated at 400–800 years old stands at Armadale Shopping City; the railway line, formerly the terminus of the Armadale line, was extended to Byford in October 2025.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Armadale (WA) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 3% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 824, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Armadale (WA) a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Armadale (WA) from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
3/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (3/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
55/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $270 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 55% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Armadale (WA) at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 13,415
- Median age
- 39
- Median weekly household income
- $1,020
- SEIFA score
- 824
- Local government area
- Armadale
- Coordinates
- -32.1499, 116.0029
Map of Armadale (WA)
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Armadale (WA)
What it costs to live in Armadale (WA) and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $270
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 55%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 40%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Armadale (WA) demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Armadale (WA) demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Armadale (WA) using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is young adults (25–44) at 26% and 31% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,464 | 18% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,642 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 3,485 | 26% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 3,158 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,661 | 20% |
Share of the 13,410 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,300 | 24% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,677 | 31% |
| Rented | 2,222 | 40% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 3,701 | 67% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,683 | 31% |
| Flats & apartments | 89 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 5,490 occupied private dwellings in Armadale (WA).
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,310
- Median weekly personal income
- $558
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 3,730 (31%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,668 (14%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 829 (6%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 4,047 (38%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 12.7%
- Employed full-time
- 2,758
- Employed part-time
- 1,604
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Weather and climate in Armadale (WA)
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Armadale (WA) is January (average daytime high around 31.8°C) and the coolest is July (around 16.7°C). The area receives roughly 738 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31.8°C | 18.3°C | 20 mm |
| Feb | 31.4°C | 18.4°C | 24 mm |
| Mar | 28.9°C | 17.5°C | 41 mm |
| Apr | 24.4°C | 14.5°C | 47 mm |
| May | 20.3°C | 11.9°C | 86 mm |
| Jun | 17.7°C | 10.2°C | 115 mm |
| Jul | 16.7°C | 9.7°C | 143 mm |
| Aug | 17.2°C | 9.3°C | 120 mm |
| Sep | 19.1°C | 10.2°C | 65 mm |
| Oct | 21.8°C | 11.8°C | 42 mm |
| Nov | 26°C | 14.1°C | 26 mm |
| Dec | 29.9°C | 16.7°C | 9 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Armadale (WA)
Is Armadale (WA) a good place to live?
Armadale's Suburb Score of 3 (SEIFA 824) places it in the bottom 3% of Australian suburbs nationally — unemployment at 12.7%, median household income of just $1,020 a week, 40% of dwellings rented, and 20% of residents aged 65 or over — and these are figures this guide names directly because they are the honest context for any resident verdict. The suburb earned national headlines for CoreLogic's #1 price-growth ranking in 2023, which is a capital-investment story; the SEIFA tells a different story about what life is like for the people actually living there. What Armadale has that the score doesn't capture is its position as the regional hub at the foot of the Darling Range — a genuine town centre, affordable housing, the Armadale Arboretum, and proximity to the Darling Range escarpment — which draws a specific community that has chosen it for affordability, space, and access to the jarrah forest edge.
What is the median rent in Armadale (WA)?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Armadale (WA) was $270, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,300. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Armadale (WA)?
Armadale (WA) is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Armadale local government area.
What is the population of Armadale (WA)?
At the 2021 Census, Armadale (WA) had a population of about 13,415.
Is Armadale (WA) an advantaged area?
Armadale (WA) has an ABS SEIFA score of 824, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 3 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 3% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Armadale (WA)?
Armadale (WA) has average daytime highs of about 23.8°C and overnight lows of about 13.6°C, with roughly 738 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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