Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood
Western Australia · Wanneroo, Perth - North West
Live · ABS ERP June 2025
The weekday morning train from Butler Stn reaches the CBD in 40 min, against 23 min from the middle Western Australia area with a timetabled station. Children under 15 are 22.2% of residents, against 18.0% in the middle Western Australia area (Census 2021). The median age is 34, lower than the middle Western Australia area (39, Census 2021).
Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood has 9 schools (6 government, 3 non-government; ACARA School Profile 2025) and 16 NQS-rated childcare services (ACECQA register). Population is 26,000 (ABS ERP June 2025); the AM-peak train journey to the CBD takes 40 min (Transperth, static GTFS, timetable from 27 Oct 2026).
Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood at a glance
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Boundaries: ABS Suburbs & Localities 2021. School pins are ACARA's published locations. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO. Open the full WA map →
How the Family-Fit score is built71/100
Family-Fit score
Method published in fullStrong for families - strongest on childcare & early years, weakest on socio-economic profile.
- Schools in the area · 20% of the score
- 75/100
- Childcare & early years · 15% of the score
- 100/100
- Everyday amenities · 15% of the score
- 100/100
- Getting around · 15% of the score
- 64/100
- Housing affordability · 15% of the score
- 38/100
- Families already here · 10% of the score
- 82/100
- Socio-economic profile · 10% of the score
- 22/100
WA median 71/100
9 schools in this SA2 · average government-school ICSEA 974
WA median 60/100
16 NQS-rated services nearby
WA median 78/100
50 parks · no GP mapped (not counted) · 5 supermarkets · 26 playgrounds
WA median 95/100
40 min to the CBD by train from Butler Stn
WA median 53/100
Paying over 30% of income on housing: 14.6% of mortgage-holding households, 35.6% of renting households
WA median 68/100
22.2% of residents are children aged 0–14 · 44.5% of families are couples with children
WA median 44/100
SEIFA IRSAD decile 3 of 10 nationally
The grey marker on each bar is the median across the 234 Western Australia areas we publish a score for (state median overall: 67/100). It is context, not a pass mark.
How this score is calculated
Each published figure for the Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood SA2 is mapped onto 0–100 by fixed thresholds, then weighted. Inputs with no data here are dropped and the rest rescaled - never scored as zero. Every threshold and weight →
School results, crime and flood or bushfire overlays are not graded into this score. Limits of the score →
What families notice
What families notice
- 50 parks mapped inside this SA2 (OpenStreetMap).
- 9 schools sit inside this SA2 - more choice than most areas this size.
- We don't have official school-zoning data for WA yet (only VIC, NSW and QLD) - confirm zoning directly with the school or department.
- We don't yet have official crime data for WA (only NSW and VIC) - that's a data gap on our side, not a claim this area is safe.
- About 36% of renters here spend over 30% of income on rent - above the standard affordability guideline (ABS Census 2021).
Living in Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood: family snapshot
Living in Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood
A large suburb particularly popular with young families. Strong United Kingdom and New Zealand communities here (2021 Census). Many childcare options nearby - 16 NQS-rated services. About a 40-minute train to the CBD. Mostly detached family homes.
Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood compared with Western Australia10 measures
| Measure | Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood | WA average | Against WA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children aged 0 to 4 | 6.7% | 6.1% | About the same |
| Children aged 5 to 14 | 15.4% | 12.9% | Higher |
| Couple families with children | 44.5% | 44.4% | About the same |
| One-parent families | 22.9% | 15.2% | Higher |
| Homes owned outright | 13.7% | 29.3% | Lower |
| Homes owned with a mortgage | 49.3% | 41.0% | Higher |
| Homes rented | 30.6% | 27.4% | Higher |
| Separate houses | 91.0% | 81.3% | Higher |
| Flats and apartments | 0.7% | 5.7% | Lower |
| Born overseas | 40.1% | 32.2% | Higher |
Source: ABS Census 2021. The WA figure is the population-weighted average of the 259 WA areas with a published value. "Higher" and "Lower" describe the number only.
About this area and its boundary
Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood is a locality in the Wanneroo area of Western Australia. This profile draws on ABS population and Census figures, the ACARA school register and ACECQA childcare ratings for the Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood SA2.
26,000 residents - 22.2% are children under 15, median age 34, the largest overseas-born community is United Kingdom (17.9%).
Why “Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood”? The ABS divides the larger suburb of Butler into several statistical areas (SA2s); this profile covers one part of it. Other parts are listed further down. SA2 boundaries don’t always match suburb boundaries. It covers the gazetted suburbs of Butler, Merriwa and Ridgewood, drawn separately on the map above.
Property market
No free house sale price or 3-bedroom house rent is published for this area. 30.6% of homes are rented, against 27.4% across Western Australia.
Homes and households
Source: ABS Census 2021. Where the shares do not add to 100%, the rest is "other" or "not stated".
Housing cost pressuremortgage and rent against income
Housing cost pressure
In Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood, 35.6% of renting households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and 14.6% of households with a mortgage spend more than 30% on repayments - the ABS's stretched-household threshold (Census 2021).
ABS published figures, not our calculation.
- Mortgage over 30% of income
- 14.6%
- Rent over 30% of income
- 35.6%
WA avg 13%
Share of households WITH a mortgage whose repayments take more than 30% of income. That's 589 of 3,365 households with a stated repayment.
WA avg 28.4%
Share of RENTING households whose rent takes more than 30% of income. That's 892 of 2,214 households with a stated rent.
The two figures cover different households (mortgage-holding vs renting), so never add them. How the ABS counts these → Grey marker: WA average (234 for mortgage and 238 for rent). Census 2021 - housing costs have moved since. Not financial advice.
What's being built herenew homes approved, year by year
What's being built here
35 new homes were approved in Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood in the year to June 2025. Councils approved 133 new dwellings here across the 6 years to June 2025 - an approval is permission to build, not a home that exists yet.
Approved in the year to June 2025
Middle WA area: 50
Separate houses
Private sector, over the 5 of these 6 years where the breakdown is published
Townhouses & apartments
Private sector, over the 5 of these 6 years where the breakdown is published
Counts are for the whole Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood statistical area. What these counts include → Dashed line: the median of 230Western Australia areas.
Schools and childcare
9 schools are located in the area. 16 childcare services are on the national register, 14 rated Meeting the National Quality Standard or above.
Government schools in Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood
Free government schools your child may attend. Exact school zones aren’t mapped for WA yet, so we can’t confirm which one is yours.
A picture of students’ family backgrounds (ICSEA) - not a ranking or a quality score.
Fee-paying schools can’t be enrolled in by zone - they’re shown for context, not as the area’s school quality.
We show school intake context and catchments, not exam results. We don’t publish a school ranking.
To look beyond Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood, every Western Australia school is on the Australian schools and catchment zones map.
Schools in Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood
- Students
- 1,039
- ICSEA
- 965
- Students
- 665
- ICSEA
- 1013
- Students
- 530
- ICSEA
- 984
- Students
- 453
- ICSEA
- 986
- Students
- 411
- ICSEA
- 1030
- Students
- 368
- ICSEA
- 1038
- Students
- 362
- ICSEA
- 952
- Students
- 244
- ICSEA
- 972
- Students
- 106
- ICSEA
- 983
ICSEA reflects student intake context, not teaching quality (1000 = national average). Source: ACARA School Profile 2025. All WA schools →
Childcare: 16 services
National Quality Standard ratings from the ACECQA register, refreshed Oct 2026. Services are matched by suburb name.
Childcare services, ratings and fees16 services
- Meeting NQSEast Butler OSHClubCentre-Based Care · 120 places · ButlerRated Aug 2026
- Meeting NQSTribe@ButlerCentre-Based Care · 100 places · ButlerRated Dec 2020 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSCompass Early Learning CentreCentre-Based Care · 100 places · MerriwaRated Dec 2022 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSNido Early School ButlerCentre-Based Care · 92 places · ButlerRated Jan 2026
- Meeting NQSSparrow Early Learning ButlerCentre-Based Care · 90 places · ButlerRated May 2024
- Meeting NQSCuddles Early Learning & Childcare MerriwaCentre-Based Care · 86 places · MerriwaRated Dec 2020 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSCamp Australia - St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School OSHCCentre-Based Care · 85 places · ButlerRated Mar 2025
- Meeting NQSGoodstart Early Learning Merriwa - Hughie Edwards DriveCentre-Based Care · 82 places · MerriwaRated Feb 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSTribe@RidgewoodCentre-Based Care · 79 places · RidgewoodRated Nov 2024
- Meeting NQSSparrow Early Learning East ButlerCentre-Based Care · 72 places · ButlerRated Jul 2026
- Meeting NQSAtlantis Outside School Care ButlerCentre-Based Care · 70 places · ButlerRated Nov 2025
- Meeting NQSJohn Butler OSHClubCentre-Based Care · 70 places · ButlerRated Apr 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
+ 4 more services in this area.
- Centre-based day care
- $14.17/hr
- Outside school hours care
- $12.27/hr
Mean hourly fee across CCS-approved services, December quarter 2025 - Dept of Education, © Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0. Published at SA3 level (a wider area than this suburb's SA2), so it's an average across Wanneroo and surrounds, not this specific service list.
Verify locations before visiting. A rating over 3 years old is flagged. What the NQS ratings mean → Childcare places per child, by suburb →
Who lives here
More people born overseas than Western Australia overall: 40.1% of residents, against 32.2% statewide.
Ages of people here
Share of residents in each age band, in years. Source: ABS Census 2021.
How the area is changingCensus 2011 to 2021
Each line is drawn on its own scale, so compare the numbers, not the heights. Source: ABS Census 2011, 2016 and 2021.
Census trends against the middle WA areafull charts
Which way this area is moving
The 2011, 2016 and 2021 Censuses for Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood, counted on today's boundaries.
Since 2011, Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood has grown older, with a smaller share of children and more residents speaking another language at home.
- People counted
- +4,453 people since 2011
- Median age
- +4 years since 2011
- Children aged 0–14
- −5.3 pts since 2011
- Born overseas
- −0.5 pts since 2011
- Speak another language at home
- +4.5 pts since 2011
Usual residents counted on Census night.
Half the residents are older than this, half younger.
Share of all residents. The clearest signal of families arriving or moving on.
Share of all residents born outside Australia.
Share of residents who stated a language, speaking one other than English at home.
The dashed line is the median across the Western Australia areas we profile. How the three Censuses line up →
Where this year's population change came from+1.00% in a year
Where did the gain come from?
+256Reading the streams: overseas arrivals were the dominant force - more came from abroad than the suburb grew on its own.
Ages against the state average, band by band
Ages of people here
15.4% of people here are school-age children (5–14) - more than the Western Australia average of 12.9%, and 6.7% are under 5. The median age is 34.
- 0–4 years · before school
- 6.7%
- 5–14 years · school age
- 15.4%
- 15–19 years · teens
- 7.5%
- 20–34 years
- 20.4%
- 35–54 years
- 27.6%
- 55–64 years
- 8.6%
- 65 years and over
- 13.8%
WA avg 6.1%
WA avg 12.9%
WA avg 5.8%
WA avg 20%
WA avg 27.4%
WA avg 11.8%
WA avg 16.1%
Share of all residents of Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the Western Australia average. How the bands and averages work →
Households and families
Households and families
67% of families here have children living at home - more than the Western Australia average of 60%. The largest overseas-born communities are United Kingdom (17.9%), New Zealand (5.1%) and South Africa (3.4%). 31% of homes are rented.
Family make-up
Share of all families in the area. A small "other family" group the ABS also counts is not shown.
- Couple with children
- 44.5%
- One-parent family
- 22.9%
- Couple, no children
- 31%
WA avg 44.4%
WA avg 15.2%
WA avg 38.9%
What people live in
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated structures are not shown.
- Separate house
- 91%
- Semi-detached / townhouse
- 8.4%
- Flat or apartment
- 0.7%
WA avg 81.3%
WA avg 12.2%
WA avg 5.7%
Owned or rented
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated tenures are not shown.
- Owned outright
- 13.7%
- Owned with a mortgage
- 49.3%
- Rented
- 30.6%
WA avg 29.3%
WA avg 41%
WA avg 27.4%
Figures describe Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the Western Australia average. How these are counted →
Birthplaces, languages and communities
Who lives in Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood
Top 5 overseas birthplaces shown · 71.1% born in Australia or a country not in the top five.
- United Kingdom · established by 2016
- 17.9%
- New Zealand · established by 2016
- 5.1%
- South Africa · established by 2016
- 3.4%
- Philippines · established by 2016
- 1.4%
- India · established by 2016
- 1.1%
WA avg 8.9%
WA avg 2.6%
WA avg 1.3%
WA avg 1.1%
WA avg 2.1%
- Co-located communities
- Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood is home to established United Kingdom, New Zealand and South Africa communities - each is 2% or more of residents born overseas here, not a ranking of one against another.
- Nearby
- Mindarie - Quinns Rocks - Jindalee, Clarkson and Alkimos - Eglinton also have an established United Kingdom community.
- Settlement pattern
- Of overseas-born residents who stated when they arrived, 8.4% arrived in the last 5 years (2016–2021) (WA avg 12.8%) and 34.5% arrived before 2001 (WA avg 45.8%).
- English at home
- Of residents who speak a language other than English at home and stated their English proficiency, 10.3% report speaking English “not well” or “not at all” (WA avg 10.6%) - a self-reported ABS figure across all languages combined, not a judgement of any one community.
Figures describe Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. The ABS publishes only the five largest communities per area, so a missing name did not rank in the top five. How these are counted →
Socio-economic index (SEIFA)decile 3 of 10
- Decile (1 lowest, 10 highest)
- Decile 3 of 10
- Where this sits in WA
- bottom 30% of Western Australia areas
A relative comparison of the whole area against all of Australia - not a safety, liveability, or school-quality measure. What IRSAD measures → Source: ABS SEIFA 2021, IRSAD index (SA2).
Getting around and lifestyle
The morning-peak train from Butler Stn reaches the city in 40 minutes, and the nearest emergency department is Joondalup Health Campus, 11.2 km away in a straight line.
Mapped inside the Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood boundary. A zero can mean "not mapped" rather than "not there". Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Train to the city and nearest emergency department
Train to the city
Timetable published40 min from Butler Stn
Median scheduled weekday morning-peak travel time to the central-city terminus, from the closest station to the middle of this area (2.1 km away in a straight line). Train leg only.
Nearest emergency department
MappedJoondalup Health Campus · 11.2 km
Straight-line distance from the middle of this area - not a drive time. In an emergency call 000; do not plan around this figure.
Community and recreation
Out with a baby
Public-toilet facilities recorded on the National Public Toilet Map - not every place in the area that will let you change a baby.
About this data
Counts of features tagged in OpenStreetMap inside the Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood boundary. “Middle WA area”: the median of 255 Western Australia areas. How these counts and times are made →
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors · baby-facility counts from the National Public Toilet Map (Continence Foundation of Australia, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, CC BY 3.0 AU) · Transperth, static GTFS, timetable from 27 Oct 2026
Crime & safety in Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood
Official recorded-incident data is only published on this site for NSW and VIC so far - that's a coverage gap on our side, not a claim that Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood is safe. SuburbRadar does not rate suburbs as safe or unsafe. More on crime & safety →
Risks
1 of the 1 planning and hazard records we hold show something in this area: traffic noise. 6 more are not published for WA - treat them as not checked.
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentMarmion Avenue · Mitchell Freeway · Greyhound Drive
Each line is the extent of an official record across the whole Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood area - not a risk rating, and a specific address may or may not be affected. Not financial or insurance advice.
All 9 checks and what each one means
Flooding
Not publishedNo free statewide flood overlay is published for WA yet, so we show none. Check the local council's planning maps.
Bushfire
Not publishedWe hold official bushfire mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for WA yet. Check the state fire service's mapping.
Heritage controls
Not publishedWe hold official heritage overlay mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for WA yet. Check the local council's planning scheme and the state heritage register.
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentMarmion Avenue · Mitchell Freeway · Greyhound Drive
3 named roads through this area carry OpenStreetMap's highest classification - a freeway, motorway or major highway, whatever the road is called locally, alongside 6 named main roads. Roads are counted by name, not by mapped segment. Where a home sits relative to them matters far more than the count - a street two blocks back can be quiet.
Aircraft noise
Not publishedWe hold official aircraft-noise mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for WA yet. Check the airport's noise contours and the local planning scheme.
Land contamination checks
Not mappedWe hold official contaminated-land overlay mapping for Victoria only - nothing is published here for WA yet. Check the state environment authority's contaminated land register and the local planning scheme.
Acid sulfate soils
Not publishedWe hold acid sulfate soil mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for WA yet. Coastal and estuarine land is where these soils occur; check the state's soil mapping and the local planning scheme.
Recorded crime
Not publishedWA does not release the suburb-level incident counts we republish for New South Wales and Victoria, so we show none here.
Social housing
Census figure2.9% rented from a state or territory housing authority · 1.1% from a community housing provider
Share of occupied private dwellings here with a stated tenure (Census 2021). The middle WA area is 2.1% public and 0.5% community, across 241 areas. Listed because families ask; it is a fact about who owns the homes, not a judgement about the people in them.
About this data
Every line is an official published record for the Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood area - we don't rate, score or rank any of them. Where a line is missing, treat it as not checked rather than clear. What each line covers and does not →
Source: ABS Census 2021 (G37 tenure and landlord type) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) - road classification
Nearby suburbs
- Mindarie - Quinns Rocks - Jindalee 2.4 km
- Clarkson 3.6 km
- Alkimos (Eglinton area) 4.8 km
- Iluka (Burns Beach area) 8.4 km
- Currambine (Kinross area) 8.5 km
- Carramar 10 km
The six closest profiled areas in Western Australia, by distance between area centres.
The suburbs in this area
Everything else on this page is published for Butler - Merriwa - Ridgewood as a whole - one ABS statistical area covering 3 separate gazetted suburbs. These are the figures published for each of those suburbs on its own.
| Suburb | Residents Census 2021 | Schools |
|---|---|---|
| Butler | 13,473 | 6 |
| Merriwa | 5,587 | 3 |
| Ridgewood | 4,623 | 0 |
Each row is that suburb's own published figure - nothing here is the wider area's number divided up. Resident counts are the Census 2021 usual-resident count for the gazetted suburb, so they will not add up to the population at the top of this page, which is the ABS's later June 2025 estimate for the whole statistical area: a different measure on a different date. Schools are ACARA-registered schools whose published address falls inside the suburb boundary, which is not the same as the school your address is zoned to. No free source publishes suburb-level house medians in Western Australia, so no price column is shown - that is our coverage gap, not a statement about the market here. Every other figure on this page - crime & safety, overlays, commute, amenities, projections, the Family-Fit score - is published for the whole statistical area and cannot be separated by suburb.
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