The suburb's name refers to the Clarksons, a family of sheep farmers who had held leases of land in the area since the 19th century.

[4] The first permanent settler with European ancestry in the area was the Barnard Drummond Clarkson, a sheep-farmer who also held land in Toodyay.

[5] The leases were known as the Mindarie Pastoral Company, and the lands were primarily used for sheep-herding by subsequent generations of the Clarkson family.

[6] The ruins of the Clarksons' first homestead and home of the Mindarie Pastoral Company are today preserved in Riverlinks Park on Connolly Drive.

Outside of Clarkson's main commercial zone in the south-west, the suburb consists mostly of residential, detached bungalow housing with vast amounts of parkland.

[8] Somerly is a commercial and housing development in south-east Clarkson, principally surrounding the railway station, that was completed in 2008.

[10] The project aimed to provide a community-within-a-community with commercial enterprise, fibre-optic to the home internet, and a landscaping package (totaling at A$8,000) at no extra cost to new home-buyers.

[12] Although the land is part of Clarkson and Mindarie at present, Satterley, the developers, intend for the estate to eventually be re-gazetted as its own suburb.

A significant British-born population is present, being 15.4%, although this is a smaller proportion compared to some nearby suburbs, such as Mindarie.

Many more commercial outlets surround the centre, including a large Bunnings Warehouse, a post office, two service stations and car dealerships.

[19] A Western Power electricity substation is located off Hester Avenue in the north-east of the suburb, near the Yanchep line.

As it is the only state high school in the vicinity (other than the 11-12 Mindarie Senior College), it covers a large catchment area, extending up to Butler and Jindalee in the north.

Clarkson straddles the western edge of the Mitchell Freeway, linking it to Joondalup and the Perth CBD, with interchanges at Neerabup Road in the south and Hester Avenue in the north.

[30] Clarkson has traditionally been an Australian Labor Party stronghold since the early 2000s (decade) in State elections, in line with many northern Perth suburbs.

At federal level, the voting is much less clear-cut, with both major parties gaining consecutive election victories in the suburb since 2001.