The safest suburb in Manawatū-Whanganui is Mount Taylor, with a safety score of 99/100 and 8.3 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Otamatea (Whanganui District) and Mowhanau come next. These rankings cover 131 Manawatū-Whanganui suburbs, using NZ Police data.
Police data to August 2026
| # | Suburb | Safety score | Crimes per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mount Taylor | 99/100 | 8.3 |
| 2 | Otamatea (Whanganui District) | 96/100 | 8.8 |
| 3 | Mowhanau | 92/100 | 13 |
| 4 | Owahanga | 92/100 | 16 |
| 5 | Aokautere Rural | 91/100 | 10.6 |
| 6 | Parewanui | 89/100 | 8.3 |
| 7 | Mokai Patea | 89/100 | 17.2 |
| 8 | Springvale East | 89/100 | 11.4 |
| 9 | Miranui | 83/100 | 13.9 |
| 10 | Fitzherbert | 81/100 | 13 |
| 11 | Kelvin Grove West | 80/100 | 20.6 |
| 12 | Awahuri | 79/100 | 19 |
| 13 | Putiki | 79/100 | 13.5 |
| 14 | Kaitawa | 79/100 | 19.2 |
| 15 | Taonui | 79/100 | 20 |
| 16 | Brunswick-Papaiti | 78/100 | 17.7 |
| 17 | Kelvin Grove North | 77/100 | 24.2 |
| 18 | Sandon | 77/100 | 17.7 |
| 19 | Waitahora | 75/100 | 20.6 |
| 20 | Newbury | 75/100 | 24.6 |
Scores compare each suburb with every ranked suburb in New Zealand; higher is safer. How the score works. Suburbs with very few residents or incomplete Police records are not ranked.
