Mandurah, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Mandurah is a coastal city about 70 km south of Perth, set around the broad Peel-Harvey Estuary. Its name comes from the Noongar word mandjar, meaning 'meeting place' or 'trading place' — the Bibbulmun Noongar people gathered here long before Thomas Peel founded a European settlement nearby in 1829. For more than a century it stayed a quiet fishing village, until the post-war decades brought rapid growth; it became a city in 1990 and is now one of Western Australia's largest. Today Mandurah is built around its water: boating, fishing, canal-front housing, dolphin-watching on the estuary and the annual Crab Fest that draws crowds from the city.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Mandurah is more socio-economically advantaged than about 3% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 839, 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 Mandurah 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 Mandurah 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.
Mandurah at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 8,804
- Median age
- 50
- Median weekly household income
- $858
- SEIFA score
- 839
- Local government area
- Mandurah
- Coordinates
- -32.5242, 115.7297
Map of Mandurah
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Mandurah
What it costs to live in Mandurah and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $270
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,250
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 43%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 52%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Mandurah demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Mandurah demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Mandurah 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 31% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,025 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 942 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,913 | 22% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,363 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,561 | 29% |
Share of the 8,804 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,120 | 27% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 662 | 16% |
| Rented | 2,148 | 52% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,893 | 46% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,532 | 37% |
| Flats & apartments | 581 | 14% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 4,112 occupied private dwellings in Mandurah.
- Average household size
- 1.8 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,221
- Median weekly personal income
- $557
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 2,373 (31%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 773 (10%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 347 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,849 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 43.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 11.6%
- Employed full-time
- 1,564
- Employed part-time
- 1,206
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 Mandurah
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Mandurah is February (average daytime high around 29.7°C) and the coolest is August (around 17.2°C). The area receives roughly 639 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.7°C | 18.3°C | 15 mm |
| Feb | 29.7°C | 18.5°C | 22 mm |
| Mar | 27.8°C | 17.6°C | 34 mm |
| Apr | 23.9°C | 14.6°C | 41 mm |
| May | 20.1°C | 11.9°C | 80 mm |
| Jun | 17.8°C | 10.6°C | 105 mm |
| Jul | 16.8°C | 10.3°C | 125 mm |
| Aug | 17.2°C | 9.5°C | 103 mm |
| Sep | 18.6°C | 10.3°C | 51 mm |
| Oct | 21°C | 12°C | 37 mm |
| Nov | 24.8°C | 14.3°C | 18 mm |
| Dec | 28°C | 16.8°C | 8 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Share your local knowledge of Mandurah
Lived here or spent time in Mandurah? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Mandurah
Is Mandurah a good place to live?
Mandurah’s Suburb Score of 3 (SEIFA 839, bottom 3% nationally) and median household income of just $858 a week — roughly half the national median — put it among the most socio-economically disadvantaged suburbs in Australia, and the 11.6% unemployment rate and median age of 50 flesh out the picture: this is a suburb that leans retired, lower-income, and coastal, with a character defined by the estuary and the lifestyle it provides rather than proximity to employment. The Murray LGA growth rate of 3.95% (top 10 nationally) speaks to in-migration more than local economic growth — people are choosing Mandurah, largely for reasons the SEIFA doesn’t measure. For residents who have made that choice, the Mandurah Line (the southern terminus runs here) provides real rail access to Perth CBD, and the data does not tell the whole story of why Mandurah draws people.
What is the median rent in Mandurah?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Mandurah was $270, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,250. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Mandurah?
Mandurah is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Mandurah local government area.
What is the population of Mandurah?
At the 2021 Census, Mandurah had a population of about 8,804.
Is Mandurah an advantaged area?
Mandurah has an ABS SEIFA score of 839, 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 Mandurah?
Mandurah has average daytime highs of about 23°C and overnight lows of about 13.7°C, with roughly 639 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
Nearby suburbs in Western Australia
More suburb guides in Western Australia
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.