Kaikōura Safety Snapshot

Is Kaikōura safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Kaikōura has a safety score of 38/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 38% of New Zealand suburbs, with 37.9 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #185 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury.

The annual total crime rate in Kaikōura is 37.9 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #185 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in March 2026, April 2026, May 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 66.0%
  Theft accounts for 66.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 11.0%
  Burglary accounts for 11.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 7.0%
  Assault accounts for 7.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 2.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 2.0 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 Kaikōura ›

Kaikōura Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,316

Households

972

Median income

$59,695

Median rent

$329

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

333 (14.4%)

Age 15-64

1,239 (53.5%)

Age 65+

756 (32.6%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,881 (82.3%)

Born overseas

405 (17.7%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,983 · 75.5%

Māori

459 · 17.5%

Pacific

27 · 1%

Asian

102 · 3.9%

MELAA

18 · 0.7%

Other

36 · 1.4%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,770 · 100%

Not owned

684 · 39%

Other

228 · 13%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

570 (19.9%)

Two families

9 (0.3%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

2,280 (79.7%)

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

FAQ

• Is Kaikōura a safe suburb to live in?

  Kaikōura has a safety score of 38/100, making it the #185 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury Region. 89% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Kaikōura?

  The annual crime rate in Kaikōura is 37.9 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz