Kelson Safety Snapshot

Is Kelson safe? Yes. Kelson has a safety score of 84/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 84% of New Zealand suburbs, with 7.3 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #36 safest of 215 ranked suburbs in Wellington.

The annual total crime rate in Kelson is 7.3 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #36 safest of 215 ranked suburbs in Wellington Region. The overall crime trend in the area has increased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in October 2025, March 2026, June 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 12.0%
  Theft accounts for 12.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 6.0%
  Burglary accounts for 6.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 2.0%
  Assault accounts for 2.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 1.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 1.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Kelson ›

Kelson Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,901

Households

1,044

Median income

$139,216

Median rent

$614

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

642 (22.1%)

Age 15-64

1,923 (66.3%)

Age 65+

324 (11.2%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

2,034 (70.3%)

Born overseas

861 (29.7%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,079 · 64.2%

Māori

270 · 8.3%

Pacific

156 · 4.8%

Asian

612 · 18.9%

MELAA

66 · 2%

Other

57 · 1.8%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,178 · 100%

Not owned

684 · 31.4%

Other

81 · 3.7%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

813 (26.1%)

Two families

15 (0.5%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

2,283 (73.4%)

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

FAQ

• Is Kelson a safe suburb to live in?

  Kelson has a safety score of 84/100, making it the #36 safest of 215 ranked suburbs in Wellington Region. 86% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Kelson?

  The annual crime rate in Kelson is 7.3 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Taita North (Wellington)
• Taita South (Wellington)
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• Belmont Park (Wellington)
• Avalon East (Wellington)
• Belmont (Lower Hutt City) (Wellington)
• Stokes Valley Central (Wellington)
• Naenae Central (Wellington)
• Boulcott (Wellington)
• Delaney (Wellington)