Ellenbrook, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Ellenbrook is a planned outer suburb of Perth in the City of Swan, about 28 km north-east of the city centre. It takes its name from the nearby Ellen Brook waterway, itself named after Ellen Stirling, wife of Western Australia's first governor, James Stirling. Before development the area was banksia and sheoak woodland and wetland, used by Whadjuk Noongar people. Following the Swan River Colony's land grants from 1829, the poor sandy soils left much of the future suburb largely unfarmed, and through the twentieth century it carried scattered uses such as the Gnangara pine plantation. Ellenbrook was declared a growth corridor for Perth in 1990 and gazetted as a suburb in 1992, developed as a large public–private joint venture between the state government and private landowners. Its first village, Woodlake, opened in 1995, and the community expanded rapidly across the following decades into a major activity centre for Perth's north-east. The Ellenbrook railway line opened in December 2024, finally linking the suburb to the wider rail network.
Less advantaged than the national average
Ellenbrook is more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 952, 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 Ellenbrook 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.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 3 components we can score for Ellenbrook 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
30/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (30/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
32/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $350 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 32% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Amenities & access
80/100Plenty mapped nearby
About 92 everyday places (cafés, shops, services and more) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. · OpenStreetMap
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- 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.
Ellenbrook at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 24,668
- Median age
- 32
- Median weekly household income
- $1,846
- SEIFA score
- 952
- Local government area
- Swan
- Coordinates
- -31.7688, 115.9670
Map of Ellenbrook
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Ellenbrook
What it costs to live in Ellenbrook and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $350
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,833
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 73%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 25%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Ellenbrook demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Ellenbrook demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Ellenbrook 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 30% and 34% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 6,478 | 26% |
| Youth (15–24) | 3,269 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 7,431 | 30% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 5,122 | 21% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,373 | 10% |
Share of the 24,673 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,219 | 15% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 4,685 | 58% |
| Rented | 1,985 | 25% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 7,198 | 89% |
| Townhouses & semis | 725 | 9% |
| Flats & apartments | 130 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 8,058 occupied private dwellings in Ellenbrook.
- Average household size
- 2.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,065
- Median weekly personal income
- $840
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 7,847 (34%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 4,778 (20%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 934 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 9,402 (55%)
- Labour-force participation
- 68.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 6%
- Employed full-time
- 7,364
- Employed part-time
- 3,698
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 Ellenbrook
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Ellenbrook is January (average daytime high around 32.7°C) and the coolest is July (around 17°C). The area receives roughly 618 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32.7°C | 18.9°C | 25 mm |
| Feb | 32.2°C | 19°C | 21 mm |
| Mar | 29.6°C | 18°C | 36 mm |
| Apr | 25.2°C | 14.8°C | 43 mm |
| May | 21°C | 11.9°C | 66 mm |
| Jun | 18°C | 10.1°C | 87 mm |
| Jul | 17°C | 9.6°C | 118 mm |
| Aug | 17.6°C | 9.1°C | 101 mm |
| Sep | 19.7°C | 10°C | 50 mm |
| Oct | 23°C | 11.9°C | 37 mm |
| Nov | 27.2°C | 14.5°C | 26 mm |
| Dec | 31°C | 17.2°C | 8 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Places in and around Ellenbrook
Amenities mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre, from OpenStreetMap. A guide to what's nearby — not a complete directory.
Eat & drink
8 nearbyCoolamon Cafe · Charlotte's Vineyard Restaurant · Muzz Buzz · Pink Salt Wholefoods Cafe · KFC · Taco Bell
Parks & recreation
75 nearbyAnna Plains Park · Halpin Park · Coolamon Oval · Musselbrook Park · Boxgrove Park · Ellen Stirling Gardens
Shops & groceries
2 nearbySpudshed · BP Shop
Healthcare
1 nearbyBroadway Medical Centre
Schools & education
3 nearbyArbor Grove Primary School · Holy Cross College · Ellen Stirling Primary School
Things to do
3 nearbyEat & drink in and around Ellenbrook
Cafés, restaurants, pubs and takeaway mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre. Listings are drawn from OpenStreetMap and shown as plain data — we don't rank or rate them.
Own a café, restaurant or pub around here?
Claim your listing to feature it at the top of this section. Placement is paid advertising, clearly labelled — never editorial opinion.
Claim this listing- Charlotte's Vineyard RestaurantRestaurant
- Coolamon CafeCafé
- Hungry Jack'sTakeaway
- KFCTakeaway
- Muzz BuzzCafémuzzbuzz.com
- Pink Salt Wholefoods CafeCafé150 Coolamon Boulevard, Ellenbrook
- StarbucksCafé
- Taco BellTakeaway
Listings © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Own a venue here? Suggest a correction.
Share your local knowledge of Ellenbrook
Lived here or spent time in Ellenbrook? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Ellenbrook
Is Ellenbrook a good place to live?
Ellenbrook’s Suburb Score of 30 (SEIFA 952) places it in the bottom third nationally, and at 24,668 residents it is the third largest suburb in Western Australia — a scale of disadvantage that has real-world weight. Median household income of $1,846 is below the WA median, and the suburb had historically limited public transport: the Morley–Ellenbrook Line that opened on 8 December 2024 is the most significant infrastructure change in the suburb’s recent history, finally connecting it to Perth via rail after years as a residential suburb dependent on the freeway. How much that rail connection shifts the practical livability experience — especially for households that needed it to access employment — is the key open question for this verdict.
What is the median rent in Ellenbrook?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Ellenbrook was $350, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,833. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Ellenbrook?
Ellenbrook is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Swan local government area.
What is the population of Ellenbrook?
At the 2021 Census, Ellenbrook had a population of about 24,668.
Is Ellenbrook an advantaged area?
Ellenbrook has an ABS SEIFA score of 952, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 30 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Ellenbrook?
Ellenbrook has average daytime highs of about 24.5°C and overnight lows of about 13.7°C, with roughly 618 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Ellenbrook?
Ellenbrook is one of the most populous suburbs in Western Australia — the 3rd-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 24,668 usual residents).
Where Ellenbrook ranks
Ellenbrook appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in Western Australia
More suburb guides in Western Australia
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.