Hawthorn East is the home of a number of head offices for some of Australia's largest companies, including Coles and Bunnings.

The formally recognised traditional owners for the area in which Hawthorn East is located are the Wurundjeri People, who lived on the land for at least 14,000 years.

70.0% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were Mandarin 6.5%, Greek 2.2%, Cantonese 1.6%, Italian 1.2% and Hindi 1.2%.

The next most common countries of birth were China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 5.5%, India 3.0%, England 2.9%, Malaysia 2.0% and New Zealand 1.7%.

The head office of Coles (one of Australia's biggest companies & second largest supermarket) is located in Hawthorn East, adjacent to Toorak Rd.

The Glen Waverley line runs past the southern boundary of the suburb and the closest station is: Tooronga ^ = territory divided with another LGA