Atawhai Safety Snapshot

Is Atawhai safe? Yes. Atawhai has a safety score of 90/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 90% of New Zealand suburbs, with 9.1 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #3 safest of 23 ranked suburbs in Nelson.

The annual total crime rate in Atawhai is 9.1 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #3 safest of 23 ranked suburbs in Nelson Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in October 2025, February 2026, March 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 11.0%
  Theft accounts for 11.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 7.0%
  Burglary accounts for 7.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 6.0%
  Assault accounts for 6.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 1.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 1.0 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 1.0%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 1.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Atawhai ›

Atawhai Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,883

Households

1,161

Median income

$93,741

Median rent

$465

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

414 (14.4%)

Age 15-64

1,695 (58.8%)

Age 65+

726 (25.2%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

2,004 (70%)

Born overseas

858 (30%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,625 · 84.9%

Māori

252 · 8.1%

Pacific

18 · 0.6%

Asian

126 · 4.1%

MELAA

27 · 0.9%

Other

45 · 1.5%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,373 · 100%

Not owned

714 · 30.2%

Other

90 · 3.8%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

867 (25%)

Two families

18 (0.5%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

2,583 (74.5%)

Demographic data sourced from Stats NZ , licensed under CC BY 4.0

FAQ

• Is Atawhai a safe suburb to live in?

  Atawhai has a safety score of 90/100, making it the #3 safest of 23 ranked suburbs in Nelson Region. 69% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Atawhai?

  The annual crime rate in Atawhai is 9.1 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Marybank (Nelson)
• Inlets Nelson City (Nelson)
• The Wood (Nelson)
• Maitai (Nelson)
• Port Nelson (Nelson)
• Nelson Central-Trafalgar (Nelson)
• Britannia (Nelson)
• Rutherford (Nelson)
• Washington (Nelson)
• Victory (Nelson)