The safest suburb in Southland is Whitestone, with a safety score of 100/100 and 1.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Myross Bush and Gore Main come next. These rankings cover 53 Southland suburbs, using NZ Police data.
Police data to August 2026
| # | Suburb | Safety score | Crimes per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitestone | 100/100 | 1.6 |
| 2 | Myross Bush | 97/100 | 9.7 |
| 3 | Gore Main | 95/100 | 11.5 |
| 4 | Hedgehope | 95/100 | 16.3 |
| 5 | Riversdale-Piano Flat | 95/100 | 10.8 |
| 6 | Lumsden-Balfour | 94/100 | 18.6 |
| 7 | Edendale-Woodlands | 91/100 | 12.2 |
| 8 | Grove Bush | 91/100 | 9.1 |
| 9 | Mararoa | 90/100 | 13.3 |
| 10 | Oreti River | 88/100 | 13.2 |
| 11 | Gore North | 87/100 | 14.2 |
| 12 | Kennington-Tisbury | 87/100 | 20.1 |
| 13 | Waianiwa | 85/100 | 9.4 |
| 14 | Bluff | 81/100 | 15.2 |
| 15 | Otatara | 80/100 | 9.7 |
| 16 | Riverton | 79/100 | 13.1 |
| 17 | Ōtautau | 74/100 | 15.8 |
| 18 | Waikiwi | 73/100 | 17 |
| 19 | Mossburn | 73/100 | 19 |
| 20 | Awarua Plains | 72/100 | 32.9 |
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.
