The City includes the historically working-class suburb of Subiaco centred around Rokeby Road.

[2]: 22 Around 1905, the Municipality was given 98 acres (40 ha) of endowment land to use, located north of the railway line and south of Salvado Road.

[2]: 25 By 1906, 4500 street trees had been planted by the municipality, establishing Subiaco as one of Perth's leafiest suburbs.

In November 1922, the council began construction on a World War I memorial clock tower.

[2]:  29–30 In 1927, the Subiaco post office relocated from Civic Square to a larger building on the corner of Rokeby Road and Park Street.

[5][6] By the late 1940s, the Municipality of Subiaco had reached a high enough population that it was eligible to become a city.

[3]: 41 [4] In celebration of becoming a city, a parade was staged along Hay Street and Rokeby Road on 20 September 1952.

It started at Kitchener Park and ended at the corner of Rokeby and Heytesbury roads.

McMullen defeated Julie Matheson, the founder of the Western Australia Party and long time councillor for the City of Subiaco.

[15][16] The suburbs of the City of Subiaco with population and size figures based on the most recent Australian census:[17][18] * These localities are only partially contained within the LGA boundary.