Forest Lake (Hamilton City) Safety Snapshot

Is Forest Lake (Hamilton City) safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Forest Lake (Hamilton City) has a safety score of 39/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 39% of New Zealand suburbs, with 42.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #128 safest of 237 ranked suburbs in Waikato.

The annual total crime rate in Forest Lake (Hamilton City) is 42.7 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #128 safest of 237 ranked suburbs in Waikato Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in September 2025, October 2025, December 2025.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 56.3%
  Theft accounts for 56.3 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 25.9%
  Burglary accounts for 25.9 percent of incidents.
• Assault 13.4%
  Assault accounts for 13.4 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 3.6%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 3.6 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 0.9%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 0.9 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Forest Lake (Hamilton City) ›

Forest Lake (Hamilton City) Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,628

Households

1,062

Median income

$80,304

Median rent

$490

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

531 (20.2%)

Age 15-64

1,623 (61.8%)

Age 65+

483 (18.4%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

2,013 (78%)

Born overseas

567 (22%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,776 · 56.8%

Māori

714 · 22.8%

Pacific

150 · 4.8%

Asian

399 · 12.8%

MELAA

42 · 1.3%

Other

48 · 1.5%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,959 · 100%

Not owned

996 · 51.3%

Other

138 · 7.1%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

570 (18.4%)

Two families

15 (0.5%)

Three+ families

3 (0.1%)

Other composition

2,508 (81%)

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

FAQ

• Is Forest Lake (Hamilton City) a safe suburb to live in?

  Forest Lake (Hamilton City) has a safety score of 39/100, making it the #128 safest of 237 ranked suburbs in Waikato Region. 82% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Forest Lake (Hamilton City)?

  The annual crime rate in Forest Lake (Hamilton City) is 42.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Beerescourt (Waikato)
• Maeroa (Waikato)
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• Crawshaw (Waikato)
• Miropiko (Waikato)
• Te Rapa South (Waikato)
• Saint Andrews West (Waikato)
• Dinsdale North (Waikato)
• Nawton West (Waikato)