Carey Park

Development Activity

Schools in Carey Park iICSEA: school advantage index. 1000 = national avg, higher = more advantaged

Demographics

The median age of 40 matches the national figure, but the trajectory is aging: the senior share rose 4.2 points while the working-age share slipped 0.4 points. Overseas-born residents reach 19.2%, which is 2.4 points below national, and ancestry is heavily Anglo, led by English (2,243), Scottish (484) and Irish (468). University qualifications sit at 13.6%, a striking 16.5 points below the national figure, which aligns with the manual-labour workforce. Non-English languages are few, with Mandarin and Italian (17 speakers each) the most common. Average household size is 2.1, which is 0.4 below national, and couples without children (29.8%) marginally outnumber couples with children, consistent with the older profile.

Tenure tilts toward renting: 46.8% rent, 28.4% carry a mortgage and 24.8% own outright, so renters outnumber both owner groups, unusual for a suburb that is 79.7% separate houses. Three-bedroom homes dominate at 60.4%, with 4-plus bedroom dwellings at 18.7% and two-bedroom at 15.4%, a family-sized stock. The $331,000 median against household income in the 13.4th percentile gives a low price-to-income ratio that keeps both mortgage-to-income (28.6%) and rent-to-income (26.5%) below stress thresholds. The 9.2% vacancy rate is elevated, signalling the rental segment carries surplus capacity. Affordability improved from 47.6% in 2011 to 45.2% in 2021, a rare easing driven by the suburb's low entry prices rather than rising incomes.

Community Profile

Economy & Employment

Healthcare leads employment at 21.4% (252 workers), followed by Construction at 11.4% (134), Retail at 9.5% (112), Manufacturing at 9.1% (107) and Hospitality at 7.7% (90), a service and trades base rather than a knowledge economy. By occupation, Labourers (443) and Community/Personal workers (295) are the two largest groups, with Professionals just 192, which explains the 13.6% university rate, 16.5 points below national. Unemployment runs at 8.2%, well above typical rates, and participation is low at 48.3% because 1,700 residents sit outside the labour force. All four SEIFA indexes read decile 1, the most disadvantaged tier nationally, and real incomes fell 4.1% over the decade, a structural headwind behind the low IER score.

Transport to Work

Carey Park is car-dependent: 86.0% drive to work while only 1.5% use public transport and 3.6% walk or cycle, well below the national public-transport share, reflecting its position in regional Bunbury rather than a metro transit corridor. All four SEIFA indexes sit in decile 1, the most disadvantaged tier nationally, and 10.8% of residents (507 people) need daily assistance, above what the median age of 40 alone would suggest. Volunteering runs at 13.8%. No schools are recorded inside the 4.07 km2 boundary in this dataset, so families rely on schools in surrounding Bunbury suburbs. Rent-to-income at 26.5% stays below the 30% stress threshold, a livability cushion the low $331,000 median house price helps provide.

Population Forecast

Carey Park is an established suburb growing slowly, with annual population growth of 0.83% adding about 63 residents a year and a 10-year rise of 7.0%. Migration is balanced: net overseas inflow of 48 a year edges out net internal migration of 41, so neither force dominates. The trajectory is aging, with the senior share up 4.2 points against a working-age share down 0.4 points over the decade. The gentrification score of 19 places it firmly in the not-gentrifying category, fitting a decile 1 suburb with little upward pressure, though signals note population is up 13% since 2011. Rent grew 12.0% over the period while real incomes fell 4.1%, a squeeze that limits how fast the local market can lift.

National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs

How Carey Park compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs

Frequently Asked Questions