Bruce Safety Snapshot

Is Bruce safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Bruce has a safety score of 23/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 23% of New Zealand suburbs, with 53.9 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #107 safest of 120 ranked suburbs in Otago.

The annual total crime rate in Bruce is 53.9 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #107 safest of 120 ranked suburbs in Otago Region. The overall crime trend in the area has increased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in November 2025, June 2026, July 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Assault 70.9%
  Assault accounts for 70.9 percent of incidents.
• Theft 14.9%
  Theft accounts for 14.9 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 11.2%
  Burglary accounts for 11.2 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 2.2%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 2.2 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 0.7%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 0.7 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Bruce ›

Bruce Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,520

Households

888

Median income

$86,226

Median rent

$226

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

384 (15.2%)

Age 15-64

1,656 (65.7%)

Age 65+

486 (19.3%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

2,199 (87.9%)

Born overseas

303 (12.1%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,268 · 79.7%

Māori

417 · 14.6%

Pacific

51 · 1.8%

Asian

57 · 2%

MELAA

9 · 0.3%

Other

45 · 1.6%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,983 · 99.8%

Not owned

726 · 36.6%

Other

150 · 7.6%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

654 (24.7%)

Two families

18 (0.7%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,977 (74.6%)

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

FAQ

• Is Bruce a safe suburb to live in?

  Bruce has a safety score of 23/100, making it the #107 safest of 120 ranked suburbs in Otago Region. Property crime is 26% of recorded crime; the rest is offences against people and other categories.

• What is the crime rate in Bruce?

  The annual crime rate in Bruce is 53.9 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Milton (Otago)