St James is almost wholly residential, with a small commercial strip along Albany Highway and scattered businesses elsewhere.

The name was initially rejected by the state government's Nomenclature Committee, as it had no historical significance to Western Australia.

However, it remained in local use and in 1957 the northern portion of Bentley was officially gazetted as the new suburb of St James.

[3] Prior to European settlement, St James was occupied by the Beeloo subgroup of the Noongar people.

Until World War II, most of St James was vacant bushland with some portions used for agricultural purposes.