Mount LawleyWestern Australia 路 2.8 km from the Perth CBD
What the public data says about Mount Lawley: who lives here, what the offence rates are, and where the figures sit against the rest of the state.
Suburb summary
Mount Lawley sits 2.8 km from the Perth CBD and holds 11,328 residents across 4,681 dwellings. Despite being this close to the city, it retains a strong owner occupier base. Separate houses make up 52.6% of dwellings, 61.1% are owner occupied, and the median age is 38, exactly the Western Australian median. Beaufort Street gives it a hospitality strip that would carry a suburb on its own. Mame on Walcott Street makes tofu using a family method passed through five generations, while Le Rebelle at 676 Beaufort Street is a neighbourhood bistro and wine bar. The cafes, restaurants and bars along the strip are part of the reason people choose to live here rather than simply somewhere close to the CBD.
The figures are strong on every measure. Median weekly family income is $3,162 against a middle Western Australian suburb of $2,112. Full-time employment is 57.7% against 56.2%, unemployment is 4.1% against 4.5%, and public housing is 0.8% against 1.5%. Education is the standout, with 45.6% holding a bachelor degree or higher against 23.9% across the state and 64.6% holding a post-school qualification of some kind against 51.1%. Certificate III and IV qualifications run the other way at 9.5% against 17.8%.
Crime is the part worth reading twice, because a suburb with a strip this busy could reasonably be expected to carry some of the cost of that activity, but Mount Lawley does not stand out negatively. Four of the six measures rate strong and none reaches a concern point. Assault is 0.69 offences per 100 residents against a middle suburb of 1.28, property damage is 0.56 against 0.7, and motor vehicle theft is 0.10 against 0.12. Overall crime probability at 7.9 and burglary at 0.37 sit slightly above the middle suburb figures of 7.1 and 0.32, but remain well below Knome's concern points of 12.71 and 0.66.
For owner occupiers, Mount Lawley is one of the easier inner-city suburbs to justify paying a premium for. The appeal is the combination of absolute convenience, a short commute to the CBD, train access, the Beaufort Street entertainment precinct and access to Mount Lawley Primary School and Mount Lawley Senior High School. Buyers are paying heavily for those advantages, particularly in the detached housing market, but they are also buying a combination of lifestyle, location and amenity that becomes increasingly difficult to reproduce as you move further from the city.
The investment case is much more selective. Free-standing houses in Mount Lawley are expensive, and when a high purchase price produces a rental yield around 4% or less, the holding proposition becomes difficult to justify on income alone, particularly for an investor who cannot make meaningful use of negative gearing benefits. Knome would be far more interested in the strata market. Apartments, villas and townhouses can provide access to the same location, demographic profile, transport and Beaufort Street amenity at a substantially lower entry price. That is where there is more room for the numbers to work. A well-bought smaller property can capture much of what makes Mount Lawley desirable without requiring the investor to carry the cost of an expensive detached house producing a comparatively weak rental return.
Sources: ABS Census 2021 and WA Police 2025. Knome benchmarks are calculated across 624 Western Australian suburbs.
Written by Knome, a licensed Perth buyers agency, RA87115. Published 2026.
Is Mount Lawley safe?WA Police 2025
7.9 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 7.1. Above 12.71 it starts to become a concern.
0.5 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 1.14. Above 2.25 it starts to become a concern.
0.37 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 0.32. Above 0.66 it starts to become a concern.
0.10 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 0.12. Above 0.24 it starts to become a concern.
0.56 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 0.7. Above 1.36 it starts to become a concern.
0.69 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 1.28. Above 2.51 it starts to become a concern.
Rates are offences per 100 residents. The typical WA suburb is the middle suburb, so half sit above it. A rate in the highest quarter for the state is where it starts to become a concern. Lower is safer.
Offence counts WA Police 2025 路 Populations ABS Census 2021 路 Typical WA suburb calculated by Knome
Who lives in Mount Lawley?ABS Census 2021
Middle WA suburb 56.2%. Below 53.5% it starts to become a concern.
Middle WA suburb 4.5%. Above 5.8% it starts to become a concern.
Middle WA suburb $2,112. Below $1,701 it starts to become a concern.
Middle WA suburb 1.5%. Above 4.6% it starts to become a concern.
Rated figures show where this suburb sits among Western Australian suburbs. Strong is the better half of the state and the far end is the outermost quarter, so the word means the same on every row. The scale always runs low to high, so green is on the right where more is better and on the left where less is.
ABS Census 2021 路 Typical WA suburb calculated by Knome
Education
| Level | Mount Lawley | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor degree and above | 45.6% | 23.9% |
| Advanced diploma and diploma | 9.5% | 9.3% |
| Certificate III and IV | 9.5% | 17.8% |
| Any post-school qualification | 64.6% | 51.1% |
ABS Census 2021 路 Of people aged 15 and over
What are the homes like in Mount Lawley?ABS Census 2021
Owned against rented
- Owned outright 29.5%
- With a mortgage 31.6%
- Rented 36.6%
- Other or not stated 2.3%
Of 4,681 dwellings
What the dwellings are
- Separate house 52.6%
- Semi-detached or townhouse 19.7%
- Flat or apartment 27.6%
- Other or not stated 0.1%
Of 4,681 dwellings
Against an address, not a suburb
Every figure above describes Mount Lawley as a whole, not the property you are considering.
Four more checks only mean anything against a real address, because the answer changes between two streets and sometimes between two sides of one. They are what the free Red Flag Report runs, on screen, in seconds, without asking for anything.
Whether the property sits in a bushfire prone area on the state's mapping.
Whether the floodplain mapping reaches the block, which the suburb name never tells you.
Distance and exposure to the roads that carry the traffic, street by street.
Where the property sits under the Perth Airport flight paths and noise contours.
What we have bought in Mount LawleyTwo properties
Also bought in Mount Lawley
- 3/38 Third Avenue, Mount Lawley WA 6050
Addresses are a matter of public record, published by Landgate and the portals. Knome never names who bought a property.
Do you buy in Mount Lawley?
Yes. Knome is a Perth buyers agency and Mount Lawley, WA is inside the area we work. If you are looking here and want somebody on your side of the table, start a conversation on WhatsApp or Messenger.