Kalamunda, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Kalamunda perches on the Darling Scarp in the hills east of Perth, a few hundred metres above the coastal plain. Its name comes from Noongar words recorded in the nineteenth century — cala, for home or fire, and munda, for forest — and was made official in 1901; the settlement had first been called Gooseberry Hill. Frederick and Elizabeth Stirk made the first lasting European home here in 1881, and the Zig Zag railway, cut down the scarp, opened the hills to timber and to orchards of apples and stone fruit. Now a leafy outer suburb, Kalamunda keeps its past at a village museum and marks the northern end of the long Bibbulmun walking track, with forest parks and the Zig Zag scenic drive nearby.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Kalamunda is more socio-economically advantaged than about 83% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1049, 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 Kalamunda 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Kalamunda 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
83/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (83/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
27/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $360 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 27% 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.
Kalamunda at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 7,163
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $1,622
- SEIFA score
- 1049
- Local government area
- Kalamunda
- Coordinates
- -31.9741, 116.0514
Map of Kalamunda
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Kalamunda
What it costs to live in Kalamunda and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $360
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,100
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 83%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 15%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Kalamunda demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Kalamunda demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Kalamunda 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 seniors (65+) at 29% and 33% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,160 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 717 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,279 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,973 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,046 | 29% |
Share of the 7,175 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,385 | 49% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 957 | 34% |
| Rented | 420 | 15% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,518 | 89% |
| Townhouses & semis | 261 | 9% |
| Flats & apartments | 36 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,818 occupied private dwellings in Kalamunda.
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,199
- Median weekly personal income
- $773
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 2,282 (33%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 462 (7%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 71 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 3,632 (63%)
- Labour-force participation
- 57.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.6%
- Employed full-time
- 1,885
- Employed part-time
- 1,227
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 Kalamunda
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Kalamunda is January (average daytime high around 31.2°C) and the coolest is July (around 15.5°C). The area receives roughly 739 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31.2°C | 17.4°C | 23 mm |
| Feb | 30.6°C | 17.5°C | 24 mm |
| Mar | 27.8°C | 16.5°C | 43 mm |
| Apr | 23.3°C | 13.6°C | 45 mm |
| May | 19.2°C | 10.8°C | 81 mm |
| Jun | 16.5°C | 9.2°C | 103 mm |
| Jul | 15.5°C | 8.7°C | 140 mm |
| Aug | 16.2°C | 8.3°C | 122 mm |
| Sep | 18.2°C | 9.2°C | 69 mm |
| Oct | 21.3°C | 10.9°C | 49 mm |
| Nov | 25.5°C | 13.3°C | 30 mm |
| Dec | 29.4°C | 15.8°C | 10 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Kalamunda
Is Kalamunda a good place to live?
Kalamunda scores 83/100 (SEIFA 1,049, top 17% nationally) with median household income of $1,622 — lower than most suburbs at this score, which tells you the demographic: median age 49, 29% of residents aged 65 or over, and a substantial proportion of retirees and downsizers who own cars and their homes and need the income less. It sits at the edge of the Darling Scarp, 25 kilometres east of the CBD, and its appeal is unambiguous: the range, the jarrah forest, the heritage town centre, the Kalamunda Night Market, the trails. This is a niche, high-value suburb for a specific reader — the buyer who wants the Hills without Mundaring’s remoteness.
What is the median rent in Kalamunda?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Kalamunda was $360, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,100. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Kalamunda?
Kalamunda is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Kalamunda local government area.
What is the population of Kalamunda?
At the 2021 Census, Kalamunda had a population of about 7,163.
Is Kalamunda an advantaged area?
Kalamunda has an ABS SEIFA score of 1049, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 83 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 83% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Kalamunda?
Kalamunda has average daytime highs of about 22.9°C and overnight lows of about 12.6°C, with roughly 739 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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