The City is home to around 23,000 businesses. The strongest local business sectors are the Construction, Transport and the Professional, Scientific and Technical sectors. We are experiencing recent growth in numbers of businesses in the Administrative and Support Services, Professional, Scientific & Technical and Education sectors in particular - perhaps evidence of a move towards a more modern service-based economy.

We are fortunate to have a large proportion of home-based businesses, and more than two-thirds of our businesses are sole traders.

Key characteristics of our business community include:

• Most local businesses are non-employing sole proprietorships or microbusinesses employing fewer than five people
• More than two-thirds of our businesses are in the suburbs of Thornlie, Canning Vale, Gosnells and Maddington
• The four most common business types in the City, accounting for approximately 43% of all businesses, are:
  • Construction
  • Transport, Postal and Warehousing
  • Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
  • Financial and Insurance Services

The City has excellent major transport links, with an efficient road network, passenger rail and bus services and close proximity to Perth’s international and domestic airports (approximately 20 minutes travel time away). We are just 17 km from the Perth CBD, and is served by the Albany Highway, the Roe Highway, the Tonkin Highway and the Armadale and Thornlie railway lines. These main transport links provide excellent access in and around the Perth metropolitan area and to the south and south-west of the State. Fremantle, WA’s largest general cargo port, is just 35 minutes away by road. 

With a local workforce of more than 30,000, the City offers significant business advantages over more expensive, more congested or more remote locations for your business!

In the pages below you will find much more detail on the most important aspects of the City's economy and business community.