Every score on Burb Score is derived from official data sources and calculated using transparent, reproducible methodology. Built and operated independently in Perth. About Burb Score →
What percentage of tracked suburbs have data for each metric, grouped by category.
| Metric | Coverage | Refreshed | Vintage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime | ||||
| Safety Score | 43.9% | 8 Apr 2026 | 2025 | WA Police Crime Statistics→ |
| Schools | ||||
| Primary School Score | 43.9% | 9 Apr 2026 | Latest available | ACARA School Profiles→ |
| School Score | 43.9% | 9 Apr 2026 | Latest available | ACARA School Profiles→ |
| Secondary School Score | 43.9% | 9 Apr 2026 | Latest available | ACARA School Profiles→ |
| Prices | ||||
| Afford Score | 43.9% | 15 Apr 2026 | 2025-04-01/2026-03-31 | REA Property Data→ |
| Median House Price | 46.2% | 15 Apr 2026 | 2025-04-01/2026-03-31 | REA Property Data→ |
| Median Rent Weekly | 56.6% | 15 Apr 2026 | 2025-04-01/2026-03-31 | REA Property Data→ |
| Price Score | 43.9% | 15 Apr 2026 | 2025-04-01/2026-03-31 | REA Property Data→ |
| Rent Score | 43.9% | 15 Apr 2026 | 2025-04-01/2026-03-31 | REA Property Data→ |
| Demographics | ||||
| Median Age | 100% | 25 Mar 2026 | 2021 | ABS Census 2021→ |
| Median Household Income Weekly | 100% | 25 Mar 2026 | 2021 | ABS Census 2021→ |
| Population | 100% | 25 Mar 2026 | 2021 | ABS Census 2021→ |
| Transport | ||||
| Commute Score | 43.9% | 25 Mar 2026 | Point-in-time snapshot | Google Maps Travel Times→ |
| Drive Minutes | 26.2% | 25 Mar 2026 | Point-in-time snapshot | Google Maps Travel Times→ |
| Park And Ride Score | 43.9% | 25 Mar 2026 | Point-in-time snapshot | Google Maps Travel Times→ |
| Transit Minutes | 22.1% | 25 Mar 2026 | Point-in-time snapshot | Google Maps Travel Times→ |
| Transit Score | 43.9% | 25 Mar 2026 | Point-in-time snapshot | Google Maps Travel Times→ |
| Walkability | ||||
| Walk Score | 42.9% | 1 Apr 2026 | Point-in-time snapshot | Walk Score→ |
| Community | ||||
| Suburb Vibes | 27.5% | 25 Mar 2026 | Archived posts | Reddit Community Sentiment→ |
How Percentile Scoring Works
Most metrics on Burb Score are percentile rankson a 0–100 scale. A score of 75 means a suburb outperforms 75% of other suburbs on that metric. Higher always means better — metrics where “lower is better” (like crime rate or house price) are inverted so the scale remains intuitive.
Suburbs with missing data receive null, not zero — this means they are excluded from rankings rather than penalised. Only suburbs with population ≥ 200 are included in percentile calculations.
The safety score (0–100) measures how safe a suburb is relative to other Perth suburbs. It is calculated as a percentile rank of total criminal offences per 100 residents, inverted so that higher scores mean lower crime. A score of 80 means the suburb has less crime than 80 % of Perth suburbs.
Source: WA Police Force crime statistics
The school rating (0–100) is a percentile rank based on average NAPLAN results for schools within the suburb boundary. Schools are matched to suburbs by their registered suburb name. At the suburb level, the rating is the average percentile across all schools in that suburb.
Source: ACARA / MySchool — NAPLAN results & ICSEA
The affordability score (0–100) combines median house price and median weekly rent into a single percentile rank, where higher means more affordable. When multiple data sources are available, we use a priority order: REA › REIWA › Rental Bonds › Census. When only price or rent is available, the score uses whichever exists.
Source: REA, REIWA, WA Rental Bonds, ABS Census 2021
Walk Score (0–100) measures walkability based on walking routes to nearby amenities like shops, cafes, parks, and schools. This metric is sourced directly from the Walk Score API and reflects pedestrian infrastructure and nearby amenity density.
Source: Walk Score API (walkscore.com)
Travel times measure minutes from the suburb centroid to Perth CBD by three modes: driving, public transit, and park-and-ride. The commute score (0–100) is a percentile rank of drive time where higher means shorter commute. Transit and park-and-ride have separate scores.
Source: Google Maps Distance Matrix API
Five physical-hazard overlay layers show environmental risks that affect Perth suburbs: flood zones (floodway, flood fringe, floodplain), bushfire prone areas, aircraft noise contours (ANEF bands 20–40), road and rail noise corridors (SPP 5.4), and coastal setback zones (SPP 2.6). Each is rendered from vector PMTiles sourced from official WA government open data. Hazards are informational — they are not scored into the match score.
Source: DWER (flood), DFES (bushfire), WAPC (aircraft, road/rail & coastal) — all via SLIP ArcGIS REST
Seven overlay layers cover what is zoned, built, or protected across Perth. Zoning (Local Planning Scheme), R-Codes (SPP 7.3 residential density), Activity Centres (SPP 4.2 growth nodes), Structure Plans (endorsed future-growth blueprints with dwelling yields), Bush Forever (SPP 2.8 permanently protected bushland), DBCA-managed Reserves (national parks, nature reserves, state forests), and the Urban Development Program (UDP) development pipeline. Like hazards, planning layers are informational — they are not scored into the match score, but they give crucial context for what a suburb will look like in 5–10 years.
Source: DPLH Property_and_Planning MapServer (zoning, R-codes, activity centres, structure plans, bush forever), DBCA (reserves), DPLH UDP (developments) — all via SLIP ArcGIS REST
The match score combines affordability, safety, schools, and commute into a single 0–100 score. Default weightings are 25 % each, but users can adjust via the Explore page. Walk Score can optionally be included as a fifth factor.
Source: Calculated from individual scores above
Use the at the top of every page (megaphone icon) to send a correction directly from the suburb you are looking at. Or email [email protected] with the suburb name, the metric, and the value you saw. We triage corrections within one to two Australian business days. If the issue is in upstream source data (for example, a delayed ABS or ACARA release), we note it on this page and where possible suppress the affected value until it is corrected. Pipeline-side fixes ship in the next data refresh after triage.
No dataset is perfect. Here are the things our scores cannot tell you, and the caveats you should know about.
Demographics (population, income, tenure, commute mode) are from the ABS Census conducted in August 2021. The next Census is due in 2026. Suburbs that have grown or changed significantly since 2021 may not be accurately represented.
WA Police publish crime statistics by calendar year. Current data typically reflects offences reported 6–18 months ago, not real-time crime levels.
NAPLAN measures literacy and numeracy in specific year levels. It does not capture teaching quality, student wellbeing, extracurriculars, specialist programs, or school culture. A low NAPLAN score does not mean a bad school.
Median prices come from aggregated sale data published by real estate portals (REA, REIWA) and may differ from the settlement price of any individual property. Rental data includes actual bond lodgement records. Priority chain: REA › REIWA › WA Rental Bonds › Census.
Walk Score calculates walking distance to amenities. It does not account for footpath quality, terrain (hills), lighting, traffic safety, or perceived safety of walking routes.
Suburbs with fewer than 200 residents are excluded from percentile score calculations. Suburbs with fewer than 50 residents, or with no rent or price data, are excluded from the Explore map. These suburbs still appear on individual profile pages with raw data where available.
Suburb sentiment analysis is based on archived Reddit posts from r/perth and related subreddits. This represents a specific demographic skew — Reddit users tend to be younger and more tech-oriented. Not all suburbs have enough posts for a vibes profile.
Every number on Burb Score passes through a multi-stage pipeline with automated quality gates. Data that fails validation does not reach the site.
If any test fails during a data refresh, the pipeline stops and the previous good data remains live. Every published table has a data contract enforcing column types, and deployments are blocked if the schema verification fails. Regression tests compare 5 canary suburbs (Perth, Joondalup, Fremantle, Armadale, Mundijong) against pinned baseline values to catch unexpected changes before they go live.
Enter a suburb name to see which metrics are available.