Suburbs in Perth Australia

For migrants coming to live in Perth, one of the biggest problems can be choosing an area to live, especially if they don't have family or friends living here.

We aim to provide detailed information about Perth suburbs including photos of some of the key features, an overall description to give you a feel for the suburb, a description of the real estate in the suburb, statistics about house prices etc, and comments from other migrants.

Please click on the map to start exploring - you will also see a full suburb list if you want to select by name. Coming soon - suburb locator page.

The Best Suburbs

Many people ask "which are the best suburbs" or "suburbs to avoid", but this is very difficult to answer - in general you can expect the more expensive suburbs to have lower crime, graffiti, drug problems etc. But there are some lower-priced suburbs which seem to be very good places to live also.

Each migrant will have their own set of criteria for deciding on an area, but here we have listed some of the key choices to think about:

Employment
Obviously, the central business district (CBD) is in central Perth, so if you'll be working in the CBD you may want to live nearby or along one of the main commuting routes (freeways and railways).

"North of The River" or "South of the River"
This is the source of keen debate among some Perth residents, but which is really better? The north has great beaches and better routes into the city (at the moment). The south has maybe more character suburbs (eg. Fremantle) and is easier to get to the South of WA (weekends in Mandurah?).

Beach, River or Hills
Many migrants (especially those from the UK) want a beach lifestyle, and quite often head for the northern coastal suburbs. But Perth offers more variety than this - there are great spots around the Swan and Canning rivers and the Hills offer a less suburban-type lifestyle.

New house or Character home
Part of the Australian dream for some people is owning a brand new house and there's plenty of opportunity for this in most areas. Depending on your budget, you may be looking at a house & land package in the northen suburbs, or a new luxury townhouse near the Swan River.

If you're looking for a "character" home (perhaps built between 1900 and 1940), your choice is restricted to suburbs close to the city and around the river.