For most of its existence, Pearce was a hybrid urban-rural seat that covered Perth's outer northern suburbs before fanning inland from the Indian Ocean to take in portions of the Wheatbelt southeast, east and northeast of the capital.

However, as of the 2021 redistribution, Pearce is largely coterminous with the City of Wanneroo in Perth's northern suburbs.

[1] As of the 2022 Australian federal election, Pearce largely overlaps with the City of Wanneroo in the northern suburbs of Perth, the capital of Western Australia.

[4]: 51  Pearce had a mixture of urban and rural areas, covering the Swan Valley, the Perth Hills and part of the western Wheatbelt.

[4]: 78 At the 1997 redistribution, Pearce gained the Wheatbelt shires of Beverley and York from the division of O'Connor.

[5] At the 2000 redistribution, Pearce gained the northern parts of the City of Wanneroo from the division of Moore, stretching along the coast from Tamala Park to Two Rocks.

[7] At the 2016 redistribution, the shires of Kalamunda and Mundaring, as well as Gidgegannup within the City of Swan, were transferred to the divisions of Canning and Hasluck.

[8] For most of its existence, Pearce covered the Swan Valley, the Perth Hills and part of the western Wheatbelt.

In a submission to the AEC, the Labor Party proposed that Pearce be abolished because it was "unsustainable" and the least disruptive option.

As a consequence, the division became entirely urban, covering the City of Wanneroo (including the suburbs of Alkimos, Ashby, Ballajura,[n 1] Banksia Grove, Butler, Carabooda, Carramar, Clarkson, Darch, Eglinton, Gnangara, Hocking, Jandabup, Jindalee, Landsdale, Madeley, Mariginiup, Merriwa, Mindarie, Neerabup, Nowergup, Pearsall, Pinjar, Quinns Rocks, Ridgewood, Sinagra, Tamala Park, Tapping, Two Rocks, Wangara, Wanneroo and Yanchep) and a small part of the City of Swan (including the suburbs of Cullacabardee, Lexia[n 1] and Melaleuca).

The most common industries of employment were hospitals (3.1%), supermarket and grocery stores (2.9%), iron ore mining (2.4%), aged care residential services (2.3%), and primary education (2.2%).

[3] Pearce was proclaimed on 31 March 1989, with it being created at the 1989 redistribution due to high population growth in Western Australia.

Chaney had wanted to move to the House of Representatives since at least 1981, with him unsuccessfully seeking preselection for the division of Curtin that year.

In his bid for re-election in 2016, however, Porter suffered a five-point swing to reduce his margin to seven percent, just barely within the range of being fairly safe.