It is located to the southeast of the city centre, at a distance of about nine kilometres, between the suburbs of Oranga and Mount Wellington, and close to the Mangere Inlet, an arm of the Manukau Harbour.

The results were 56.3% European (Pākehā); 8.7% Māori; 10.5% Pasifika; 31.2% Asian; 3.2% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.2% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".

Industry started to flourish in the area from the 1920s, due to its close connection to the main railway line and the main road (Great South Road) with these important transport links later strengthened by the motorway (State Highway 1) built following the same alignment in the 1950s.

[7]} The new motorway and the move of industrial and manufacturing occupations out of older centres like the Auckland CBD soon started a boom in the Penrose-Mount Wellington area.

Industry also successfully lobbied for state housing to be built close by, to provide the new area with a supply of labour.

[10][11] The Auckland Japanese Supplementary School (AJSS; オークランド日本語補習学校 Ōkurando Nihongo Hoshūgakkō), a Japanese supplementary school, holds its classes at One Tree Hill College.

[12] Penrose is home to the New Zealand Warriors, who are based at Mount Smart Stadium.