Morley, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Morley sits about 10 kilometres north-east of central Perth in the City of Bayswater, built around the Galleria, one of the city's larger shopping centres. The name appeared on maps near the start of the twentieth century and was adopted when the Morley Park Estate was subdivided after the First World War; it most likely honours Charles William Morley, who farmed in the area in the 1860s and 1870s. The district began as farmland in the early days of the Swan River Colony, and from the late 1950s and early 1960s it grew into a major shopping and residential centre, its suburban streets shaped by town-planning schemes drawn up by the consultant planner Margaret Feilman. The Boans department store was a local landmark until it burnt down in 1986, after which the Galleria was built on the site, opening in 1994. Tonkin Highway was cut through the suburb in 1984. The cricketers Michael and David Hussey and the singer Samantha Jade were all raised in Morley.
Around the national middle
Morley is more socio-economically advantaged than about 46% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 980, 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.
Morley at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 22,539
- Median age
- 39
- Median weekly household income
- $1,583
- SEIFA score
- 980
- Coordinates
- -31.8897, 115.9117
Morley demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Morley 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%, 28% of homes are rented, and 44% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 3,629 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 2,532 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 6,851 | 30% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 5,300 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 4,232 | 19% |
Share of the 22,544 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 2,985 | 34% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 3,035 | 35% |
| Rented | 2,434 | 28% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 7,257 | 84% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,372 | 16% |
| Flats & apartments | 46 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 8,687 occupied private dwellings in Morley.
- Median weekly rent
- $360
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,733
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,900
- Median weekly personal income
- $737
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 9,609 (44%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 8,037 (37%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 369 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 10,828 (59%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.6%
- Employed full-time
- 6,701
- Employed part-time
- 3,878
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 Morley
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Morley 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).
Common questions about Morley
Where is Morley?
Morley is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Morley?
At the 2021 Census, Morley had a population of about 22,539.
Is Morley an advantaged area?
Morley has an ABS SEIFA score of 980, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 46 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 46% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Morley?
Morley 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).
How big is Morley?
Morley is one of the most populous suburbs in Western Australia — the 6th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 22,539 usual residents).
Where Morley ranks
Morley 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.