Darling Downs sits 39 km from Perth CBD in Western Australia, around 40 minutes by car. Census data records 1,591 residents with a median age of 39 and a median household income of $128,960 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the top 40% nationally. The suburb grew 32.6% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $400 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,172. Darling Downs is characterised by high flood risk and high bushfire risk. Walkability is low.
Is Darling Downs a good suburb?
Darling Downs scores a C (37/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on community, weaker on safety.
Some car dependence
Walkability 12/100 · 38.9 km · 40 min drive to Perth
Median available
Median $1.53M
High flood risk
Fire 61/100 · Crime 53/100 · Flood 76/100
Advantaged
SEIFA decile 8/10 · median age 39 · 1,591 residents
Liveability Rating
37 / 100 · Ranked #383 in WAEach bar is Darling Downs's rank among WA suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.
How do you rate the liveability in Darling Downs?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
37 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median Land Price
Public listings dataDarling Downs's land market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $820,000, roughly 28% above where it sat a year earlier.
Land
$820,000
Based on 29 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 14 days — median across 6 sales that recorded a listing period
Houses
$1,529,750
89% above its 3 neighbours (median $810,000)
Based on 20 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 22 days — median across 7 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 4 bed 8 sales $1.57M
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Darling Downs are currently listed at around $1.7 million on average. Based on 6 houses listed in the past six months.
$1.7M
6 houses listed in the last 6 months.
6 of the suburb's 513 dwellings (1.2%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Darling Downs rent for around $680 a week on average, based on 4 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$680/wk
4 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 202595 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 32% of its income on the median rent in postcode 6122.
SGS Rental Affordability Index: a score of 100 means rent takes 30% of income, the usual housing-stress line; lower scores are less affordable. "Region" is the capital city or the rest of the state.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$680/week ($35,000 a year) on a $1.7 million median
Based on a small sample (4 listings) — indicative only.
Gross yield — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. Calculated from median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.
Short-Stay Rentals
1 active Airbnb listing: 1 whole home and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 0.2% of the suburb's homes.
Airbnb only, as at Jun 2026; other platforms are not included. Active means reviewed in the past 12 months. The share is against private dwellings at the 2021 Census.
Schools
Walkability
Darling Downs is very car-dependent on foot — at 12/100, nearly all errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Darling Downs.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 14.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 7.4 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 1.4 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 12.8 hours
Scheduled service only, based on the 21 October 2026 timetable. Reliability (delays, cancellations) not measured.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Darling Downs.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 53%
- Premises covered
- 714
NBN Co fixed-line and fixed-wireless premises, as at 30 December 2025. Higher-quality technologies (full fibre) score above copper, wireless, and satellite. Actual speeds depend on your plan.
Amenities
Serpentine-Jarrahdale: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this suburb alone — this suburb's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 4 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 3 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the suburb closely.
Darling Downs is home to about 1,600 residents, with a median age of 39, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $129,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.6%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,591
Median Age
39
Median Household Income
$128,960/yr
Census Median Rent
$400/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,172/mo
Avg Household Size
3.0
Median Personal Income
$50,388/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.6%
Unoccupied Dwellings
5.3%
Total Dwellings
513
Owner-Occupier Rate
93.5%
Houses
96.7%
Rental Stress
16.1%
Mortgage Stress
20.2%
Work From Home
11.8%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 72.9%
- English Spoken at Home
- 89.6%
- Employment Rate
- 68.1%
- Completed Year 12
- 39.2%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
When They Arrived
Share of all residents by the year they arrived in Australia. Periods cover different numbers of years, so compare the shape rather than the bar widths.
10 residents (0.6%) arrived since 2016. Australia’s borders were closed to most arrivals from March 2020, so the last two years of that period are much smaller than the ones before them — nationally 260,799 people arrived in 2019 against 28,521 in 2021.
Where New Residents Came From
Where residents aged five and over lived five years before the 2021 Census, for those who lived somewhere else.
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,494 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Languages Spoken at Home
Top languages other than English, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
10% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (87 of 863).
City centre: the ABS area around each capital's CBD, such as Sydney Inner City or Perth City (which takes in Subiaco and Leederville). 2021 Census place of work.
Local Jobs
People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 156 people work here; 863 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.2 jobs per working resident. At least 65% of employed residents must work outside the suburb.
Counts are by place of work and place of usual residence. The ABS counts jobs in zones; where a zone spans several places, its jobs are shared out by land use. The ABS also adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $2,810 a year through Serpentine-Jarrahdale based on 2023 figures.
Building Approvals: Serpentine-Jarrahdale
In the year to August 2026, 859 new dwellings were approved across Serpentine-Jarrahdale. That mix is 855 houses and 4 units. Approvals are up 104.2% on the same period a year earlier.
Climate & Setting
from Jandakot Aero, 14.7 kmModerate rainfall — very hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 37 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 20.2 km
- Near high-voltage lines
- 5.7% of addresses
- 49 within 100 m of an overhead line of 110 kV or more
- Annual rainfall
- 745 mm
- 80 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 31.4°C
- 30 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 7.6°C
- 2 frost days ≤ 0°C
Elevation is the ground at the suburb centre, from Geoscience Australia's National Digital Elevation Model. Approximate — it reads high in dense built-up areas. It is a measure of height above sea level and not an indicator of flood risk, which depends on height above nearby waterways.
Industrial Emissions Nearby
1 facility within 5 km- 2.4 kmWaste Treatment and Disposal ServicesTop reported: Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10) · Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide
EV adoption
In postcode 6122, 112 of 19,431 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.2% (432 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.8%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 6122, 6,799 rooftop-solar systems totalling 41.2 MW have been installed since 2001, against 7,371 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 450 went up in the last year.
Counts every system certified since 2001, so a roof re-fitted with a newer system is counted twice, and small commercial systems are included alongside houses — useful for comparing postcodes, not an estimate of how many homes have working panels today.
2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.
First Home Owner Grant
FY2026-27$10,000 for new homes priced up to $800,000.
Cap is $800,000 SOUTH of the 26th parallel (which includes all of metropolitan Perth) and $1,000,000 NORTH of it. We store the southern figure because that is where almost every buyer is; the northern cap is higher, so the stored value never overstates eligibility. The southern cap rose from $750,000 on 7 May 2026 in the 2026-27 Housing Taxation Package. The same package moved the first home owner RATE OF DUTY thresholds, which is a different scheme and lives in the web repo's app/stamp_duty.py.
Mortgage repayments
1 mortgage broker is registered in this suburb, 3 across postcode 6122.
Transfer duty at the owner-occupier rate, and it excludes first home buyer concessions — those can cut it substantially or remove it entirely. Excludes legal, inspection and lender fees. Check with RevenueWA
The First Home Owner Grant applies to newly built homes only, so it isn't available on an established purchase. A first home buyer building or buying new under $800,000 may qualify for $10,000 — see what qualifies with Department of Finance WA.
At $820,000 this is $20,000 above the $800,000 First Home Owner Grant cap. A first home buyer may qualify for $10,000 on a newly built home — check eligibility with Department of Finance WA.
A deposit under 20% usually attracts Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which this doesn't include.
Principal and interest over 30 years, fixed rate. Excludes fees, offset, redraw and LMI. Default rate is the median comparison rate across 1788 advertised products as at 2026-10-27 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.
Federal Electorate
Currently held by Matt Keogh Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Matt Keogh | 65.7% | 34.3% | +2.4 |
| 2022 | Matt Keogh | 65.2% | 34.8% | -9.7 |
| 2019 | Matt Keogh | 55.0% | 45.0% | +2.1 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact suburb's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Hugh Jones WA Labor
Next state election: 10 March 2029.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Hugh Jones ALP | 55.1% |
| 2021 | Hugh Jones ALP | 63.5% |
| 2017 | Barry Urban ALP | 55.8% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2023, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: Western Australian Electoral Commission.
Looking at a specific address in Darling Downs?
Every figure above is a suburb average, and an average smooths over the difference between a street of family homes and a block of flats. Look up one address and you get the census for the few hundred people around it, its own nearest schools and stops, and what the state has mapped for that block.
- The census for a few hundred neighbours, not all 1,591 residents
- Nearest and zoned schools, with the walk from that door
- Flood, bushfire and noise mapping, where the state publishes it
Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.
Checking the whole city?
Suburbs to avoid in Perth There is no list of bad suburbs, but there are hazards the state measures and publishes — recorded crime, bushfire exposure, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Perth suburbs ranked on them, with what the numbers do and don't mean.Nearby suburbs
Compare Darling Downs to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other WA suburb — type a name and pick one.
Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:
Common questions about Darling Downs
Is Darling Downs a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Darling Downs is moderate (53/100, ranked against other WA suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Darling Downs?
Darling Downs has a moderate recorded bushfire history (61/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). Flood overlays cover a high share of it (76/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Darling Downs a good place to live?
Darling Downs has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (37/100), ranked against other WA suburbs on school quality (25%), safety (25%), SEIFA socio-economic advantage (25%), walkability (15%) and CBD access (10%). Whether it suits you depends on what you weigh — each of those is on this page.
What is the population of Darling Downs?
Darling Downs, WA had a population of 1,591 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Darling Downs, WA?
The postcode for Darling Downs, WA is 6122.
How far is Darling Downs from Perth?
Darling Downs is 39 km from Perth CBD by road, about 40 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Darling Downs?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Darling Downs was $128,960 a year. It is the most recent suburb-level income figure until 2026 Census results are released in 2027.
What is the median weekly rent in Darling Downs?
The median advertised rent in Darling Downs is $680 a week for houses (4 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Darling Downs?
The median age of residents in Darling Downs was 39 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Darling Downs at risk of bushfire?
Darling Downs has a moderate recorded bushfire history (61/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the suburb relative to its size, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history. It records where fire has burned, not a bushfire-prone land designation, which your council's planning scheme sets.
Is Darling Downs walkable?
Darling Downs scores 12/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very car-dependent. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the weather like in Darling Downs?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Darling Downs, Jandakot Aero (14.7 km away), summer days average 31.4°C, winter nights 7.6°C, 745 mm of rain a year over 80 rainy days, and 30 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Darling Downs?
First-home buyers in WA may be eligible for $10,000 towards new homes with a purchase price up to $800,000. The grant is administered by Department of Finance WA; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.
What council does Darling Downs belong to?
Darling Downs sits within the Serpentine-Jarrahdale local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Darling Downs?
The average residential rates bill through Serpentine-Jarrahdale is $2,810 a year (2023). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Darling Downs?
Across Serpentine-Jarrahdale, 859 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 104.2% on the same period a year earlier. These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.
Which federal electorate is Darling Downs in?
Darling Downs sits within the federal Division of Burt, currently held by Matt Keogh (Australian Labor Party).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2023–24
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- Short-stay rentals · Jun 2026
- State electorate · 2025
- Amenities · Sep 2026
- Health & emergency facilities · Sep 2026
- Industrial emissions (NPI) · 2024/2025
- Coastal erosion · 1988–2025
- Aircraft noise · 2024
Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.
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Information shown is provided as-is from Australian government and commercial data sources.
Always verify with the relevant authority before making property decisions.
See Data Sources and How We Calculate for details.