Melville vs Rockingham

Melville and Rockingham are two nearby Western Australian areas with very different layouts. Melville is very walkable, with 84.8% of homes within a 15-minute walk of groceries and 87.7% near health services. In contrast, Rockingham is only somewhat walkable, and only 28.7% of its homes are within a 15-minute walk of health services. Melville also has a far higher street connectivity score of 238 intersections per square kilometre, compared to 80 in Rockingham.

Both areas have a similar share of people who speak a First Nations language, and both sit near the national figure for the typical age of First Nations residents. While Rockingham has a far larger First Nations population with 3,579 people, the gap in Year 12 completion between the two is widening, with 49.4% of First Nations residents in Melville finishing school compared to 40.0% in Rockingham.