Burnside Safety Snapshot

Is Burnside safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Burnside has a safety score of 13/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 13% of New Zealand suburbs, with 63.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #243 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury.

The annual total crime rate in Burnside is 63.7 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #243 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury Region. The overall crime trend in the area has remained the same in recent months with criminal activity peaking in November 2025, May 2026, June 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 48.9%
  Theft accounts for 48.9 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 41.0%
  Burglary accounts for 41.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 6.6%
  Assault accounts for 6.6 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 2.2%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 2.2 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 1.3%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 1.3 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Burnside ›

Burnside Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

3,609

Households

1,212

Median income

$103,391

Median rent

$455

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

705 (19.5%)

Age 15-64

2,382 (66%)

Age 65+

504 (14%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

2,331 (65.1%)

Born overseas

1,251 (34.9%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,412 · 60%

Māori

357 · 8.9%

Pacific

129 · 3.2%

Asian

981 · 24.4%

MELAA

84 · 2.1%

Other

54 · 1.3%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,736 · 100%

Not owned

1,476 · 54.1%

Other

138 · 5.1%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

861 (24%)

Two families

39 (1.1%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

2,691 (74.9%)

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

FAQ

• Is Burnside a safe suburb to live in?

  Burnside has a safety score of 13/100, making it the #243 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury Region. 90% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Burnside?

  The annual crime rate in Burnside is 63.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Burnside Park (Canterbury)
• Bryndwr North (Canterbury)
• Ilam North (Canterbury)
• Bishopdale South (Canterbury)
• Jellie Park (Canterbury)
• Bishopdale West (Canterbury)
• Bryndwr South (Canterbury)
• Burnside West (Canterbury)
• Avonhead North (Canterbury)
• Avonhead East (Canterbury)