Karrinyup, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Karrinyup is a suburb about 12 kilometres north of central Perth in the City of Stirling. Its name comes from Careniup, recorded as a Noongar name for a nearby swamp and said to mean the place where bush kangaroos graze. Samuel Moore took up a grant in the area in the 1840s, when a colonial survey noted Careniup Swamp just to the east. The modern spelling was adopted in 1929 by the founders of the Lake Karrinyup Country Club, whose golf course was for many years the district's main feature. Rapid growth followed from the late 1950s, and the Karrinyup Shopping Centre, opened in 1973 and greatly expanded since, is now the largest in suburban Perth. The novelist Tim Winton and the cricketer Dennis Lillee both have links to the suburb.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Karrinyup is more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1110, 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 Karrinyup 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.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Karrinyup 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
96/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (96/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
11/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $450 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 11% 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.
Karrinyup at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 9,886
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $2,456
- SEIFA score
- 1110
- Local government area
- Stirling
- Coordinates
- -31.8723, 115.7754
Map of Karrinyup
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Karrinyup
What it costs to live in Karrinyup and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $450
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,588
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 78%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 18%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Karrinyup demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Karrinyup demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Karrinyup 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 mid-life (45–64) at 25% and 29% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,023 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,118 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,295 | 23% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,485 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,966 | 20% |
Share of the 9,887 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,329 | 39% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,340 | 39% |
| Rented | 620 | 18% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,970 | 87% |
| Townhouses & semis | 393 | 11% |
| Flats & apartments | 56 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 3,422 occupied private dwellings in Karrinyup.
- Average household size
- 2.7 people
- Median weekly family income
- $3,001
- Median weekly personal income
- $982
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 2,761 (29%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,276 (13%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 71 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 5,221 (70%)
- Labour-force participation
- 64.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 4%
- Employed full-time
- 2,865
- Employed part-time
- 1,774
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 Karrinyup
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Karrinyup is February (average daytime high around 29.5°C) and the coolest is August (around 17.7°C). The area receives roughly 614 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.4°C | 19.4°C | 24 mm |
| Feb | 29.5°C | 19.6°C | 19 mm |
| Mar | 27.8°C | 18.7°C | 39 mm |
| Apr | 24.1°C | 15.7°C | 39 mm |
| May | 20.7°C | 12.8°C | 73 mm |
| Jun | 18.3°C | 11.4°C | 98 mm |
| Jul | 17.4°C | 11.2°C | 113 mm |
| Aug | 17.7°C | 10.5°C | 97 mm |
| Sep | 19.1°C | 11.5°C | 47 mm |
| Oct | 21.6°C | 13.3°C | 38 mm |
| Nov | 24.8°C | 15.6°C | 19 mm |
| Dec | 27.7°C | 18°C | 8 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Karrinyup
Is Karrinyup a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Karrinyup rates 68/100 overall (Strong on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Karrinyup?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Karrinyup was $450, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,588. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Karrinyup?
Karrinyup is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Stirling local government area.
What is the population of Karrinyup?
At the 2021 Census, Karrinyup had a population of about 9,886.
Is Karrinyup an advantaged area?
Karrinyup has an ABS SEIFA score of 1110, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 96 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Karrinyup?
Karrinyup has average daytime highs of about 23.2°C and overnight lows of about 14.8°C, with roughly 614 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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