RivervaleWestern Australia 路 5.2 km from the Perth CBD
What the public data says about Rivervale: who lives here, what the offence rates are, and where the figures sit against the rest of the state.
Suburb summary
Rivervale sits 5.2 km from the Perth CBD and has 10,897 residents across 4,873 dwellings. It is younger and more mobile than many surrounding suburbs, with a median age of 34, an average household size of 2.1 and 53.1% of dwellings rented. Housing is mixed, with separate houses at 42.6%, apartments at 36.1% and townhouses at 21.2%.
The work and income figures are solid. Full-time employment is 61.6% against a middle WA suburb of 56.2%, while median weekly family income is $2,246 against $2,112. Unemployment is higher at 5.2%, and public housing is the figure Knome pays particular attention to here. At 7.5%, it is substantially above the middle suburb of 1.5%, and importantly, that housing is not evenly dispersed across Rivervale.
Knome supports public housing. Every city needs it. The issue is concentration. When disadvantage becomes heavily concentrated within a small pocket, Australian and international research has repeatedly linked that concentration with higher levels of crime and antisocial behaviour. AHURI's study of public housing, policing and crime reduction, across nine public housing areas in three states, found crime strongly associated with public housing and at a conspicuously lower level in the private ownership areas next door. In Chicago, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland measured what happened when high concentration public housing was demolished and found reductions of 10 to 20 per cent in murder, assault and robbery in the neighbourhoods where it had stood. Nordic research geocoding offences to individual buildings found the same pattern at the scale of a single address, with privately owned buildings generally recording lower crime than rental. Rivervale's crime figures make that worth taking seriously. All six measures sit above Knome's concern points, including overall crime probability at 14.7 offences per 100 residents against a concern point of 12.71.
Knome would only buy in Rivervale where a client specifically wanted to live or invest there. It is not a suburb we would normally introduce into a search ourselves. If a client did want Rivervale, we would be very selective about the exact pocket, street and surrounding housing. The concentration of public housing and the suburb's crime profile mean suburb-wide averages are not enough here. In Rivervale, the individual address and its immediate surroundings matter far more than the suburb name.
Written by Knome, a licensed Perth buyers agency, RA87115. Published 2026.
Is Rivervale safe?WA Police 2025
14.7 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 7.1. Above 12.71 it starts to become a concern.
2.6 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 1.14. Above 2.25 it starts to become a concern.
0.70 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 0.32. Above 0.66 it starts to become a concern.
0.25 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 0.12. Above 0.24 it starts to become a concern.
1.43 per 100 residents. Typical WA suburb 0.7. Above 1.36 it starts to become a concern.
2.95 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 Rivervale?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 | Rivervale | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor degree and above | 32.3% | 23.9% |
| Advanced diploma and diploma | 11.2% | 9.3% |
| Certificate III and IV | 14.6% | 17.8% |
| Any post-school qualification | 58.1% | 51.1% |
ABS Census 2021 路 Of people aged 15 and over
What are the homes like in Rivervale?ABS Census 2021
Owned against rented
- Owned outright 15.8%
- With a mortgage 28.8%
- Rented 53.1%
- Other or not stated 2.3%
Of 4,873 dwellings
What the dwellings are
- Separate house 42.6%
- Semi-detached or townhouse 21.2%
- Flat or apartment 36.1%
- Other or not stated 0.1%
Of 4,873 dwellings
Against an address, not a suburb
Every figure above describes Rivervale 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 RivervaleThree properties
Also bought in Rivervale
- 5/5 Brighton Road, Rivervale WA 6103
- 4/64-66 Riversdale Road, Rivervale WA 6103
Addresses are a matter of public record, published by Landgate and the portals. Knome never names who bought a property.
Do you buy in Rivervale?
Yes. Knome is a Perth buyers agency and Rivervale, 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.