South Lake WA 6164
Located in Western Australia, South Lake sits 21 km from Perth CBD, around 21 minutes by car. The suburb has 5,831 residents, a median age of 36, and a median household income of $90,584 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the lower-middle tier nationally. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $350 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,600. South Lake is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded flood exposure. 2 schools sit within the suburb boundary, and walkability is moderate.
Is South Lake a good suburb?
South Lake scores a B (50/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, weaker on safety.
Mixed results
2 schools
Very walkable
Walkability 63/100 · 20.6 km · 21 min drive to Perth
Median available
Median $870K
High crime risk
Fire 33/100 · Crime 77/100 · Flood 0/100
Below-average income
SEIFA decile 4/10 · median age 36 · 5,831 residents
Liveability Rating
50 / 100 · Ranked #260 in WAEach bar is South Lake'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 South Lake?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
50 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataSouth Lake's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $870,000, roughly 18% above where it sat a year earlier.
$870,000
5% below its 4 neighbours (median $920,000)
Based on 98 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 21 days — median across 45 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 43 sales $853K
- 4 bed 46 sales $918K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in South Lake are currently listed at around $894,000 on average. Based on 14 houses listed in the past six months.
$894K
14 houses listed in the last 6 months.
14 of the suburb's 2,129 dwellings (0.7%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in South Lake rent for around $700 a week on average, based on 19 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$700/wk
13% below its 3 neighbours (median $805/wk)
19 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
20 rentals advertised against an estimated 564 rented homes (3.5%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- All rentals
- $688/wk
- 34 bonds
- +29% since 2023
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies. WA's bond data does not record bedrooms or dwelling type, so it covers all rentals together.Change since 2023 compares the median of the first four quarters with the last four. Asking rents above come from advertised listings.
Rental affordability
June quarter 202591 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 33% of its income on the median rent in postcode 6164.
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$700/week ($36,000 a year) on a $894,000 median
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
7 active Airbnb listings: 7 whole homes and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 0.3% 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
Two schools serve South Lake, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.
- • 846 students across 2 schools (avg 423)
- • ICSEA 944-979, median 962 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Lakeland Senior High School (566 students)
Primary
Secondary
Universities nearby
- 4.2 kmMurdoch University (Murdoch)Murdoch University · 257 courses
- 9.8 kmThe University of Notre Dame Australia - FremantleThe University of Notre Dame Australia · 121 courses
1.8% of residents here are full-time university students aged 15–24.
Distance is measured to the suburb centre. A campus nearby does not by itself mean a student rental market — most suburbs within a few kilometres of one have a student share close to the national norm, and the figure above is what tells them apart.
Walkability
South Lake is somewhat walkable on foot — at 63/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car. Within the suburb there are 3 supermarkets, 1 park and 3 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside South Lake.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 113.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 62.6 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 32.3 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 18.8 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 South Lake.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 4%
- Premises covered
- 2,509
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
Cockburn: 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 13 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 5 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
South Lake is home to about 5,800 residents, with a median age of 36, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $91,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.1%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
5,831
Median Age
36
Median Household Income
$90,584/yr
Census Median Rent
$350/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,600/mo
Avg Household Size
2.6
Median Personal Income
$41,340/yr
Unemployment Rate
6.1%
Unoccupied Dwellings
8.0%
Total Dwellings
2,129
Owner-Occupier Rate
73.5%
Houses
93.0%
Rental Stress
20.1%
Mortgage Stress
21.2%
Work From Home
5.4%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
107 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 10 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 553 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 62.2%
- English Spoken at Home
- 72.8%
- Employment Rate
- 62.3%
- Completed Year 12
- 43.8%
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.
180 residents (3.1%) 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 5,457 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
11% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (316 of 2,984).
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 1,210 people work here; 2,984 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.4 jobs per working resident. At least 59% 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 $2,754 a year through Cockburn based on 2023 figures.
Building Approvals: Cockburn
In the year to August 2026, 1,395 new dwellings were approved across Cockburn. That mix is 907 houses and 488 units. Approvals are up 13.5% on the same period a year earlier.
Climate & Setting
from Jandakot Aero, 3.7 kmModerate rainfall — very hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 29 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 7.4 km
- Near high-voltage lines
- 25.1% of addresses
- 668 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
12 facilities within 5 km- 1.8 kmPolymer Foam Product ManufacturingTop reported: Dichloromethane · Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Toluene-2,4-diisocyanate
- 2.4 km
- 3.1 kmCorrugated Paperboard and Paperboard Container ManufacturingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 3.3 kmLaundry and Dry-Cleaning ServicesTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)
- 3.4 kmWaste Remediation and Materials Recovery ServicesTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 6164, 838 of 55,443 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.1% (1,737 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 4.6%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 6164, 17,633 rooftop-solar systems totalling 98.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 24,344 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 1,190 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
30 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 6164.
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 $870,000 this is $70,000 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 Josh Wilson Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Josh Wilson | 68.7% | 31.3% | +1.8 |
| 2022 | Josh Wilson | 66.9% | 33.1% | -10.0 |
| 2019 | Josh Wilson | 56.9% | 43.1% | +0.6 |
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 Sook Yee Lai WA Labor
Next state election: 10 March 2029.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sook Yee Lai ALP | 64.2% |
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 South Lake?
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 5,831 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 South Lake to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other WA suburb — type a name and pick one.
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Common questions about South Lake
Is South Lake a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in South Lake is high (77/100, ranked against other WA suburbs on offences per resident). Offences against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the people who live here, so suburbs with large daytime or visitor populations rank higher than living there may feel.
What natural hazards affect South Lake?
South Lake has a low recorded bushfire history (33/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). No mapped flood overlay applies. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is South Lake a good place to live?
South Lake has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (50/100), 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 South Lake?
South Lake, WA had a population of 5,831 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for South Lake, WA?
The postcode for South Lake, WA is 6164.
How far is South Lake from Perth?
South Lake is 21 km from Perth CBD by road, about 21 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in South Lake?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in South Lake was $90,584 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 South Lake?
The median advertised rent in South Lake is $700 a week for houses (19 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in South Lake?
The median age of residents in South Lake was 36 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is South Lake at risk of bushfire?
South Lake has a low recorded bushfire history (33/100). 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.
How are the schools in South Lake?
There are 2 schools inside the South Lake boundary: 2 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is South Lake walkable?
South Lake scores 63/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it somewhat walkable. 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 South Lake?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to South Lake, Jandakot Aero (3.7 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 South Lake?
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 South Lake belong to?
South Lake sits within the Cockburn local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in South Lake?
The average residential rates bill through Cockburn is $2,754 a year (2023). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near South Lake?
Across Cockburn, 1,395 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 13.5% 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 South Lake in?
South Lake sits within the federal Division of Fremantle, currently held by Josh Wilson (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.