The port of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after Mandurah and Perth the state capital. The local government of the City of Bunbury has a population of 32,499. Bunbury was recognized as Australia's fastest growing city in 2005/06 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Bunbury's climate is slightly more temperate than that of Perth. This is as much a consequence of its coastal location as of the slight difference in latitude; Fremantle, on the coast immediately southwest of Perth, is more comparable in climate.