Lake Hāwea Safety Snapshot

Is Lake Hāwea safe? Yes. Lake Hāwea has a safety score of 93/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 93% of New Zealand suburbs, with 9.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #24 safest of 120 ranked suburbs in Otago.

The annual total crime rate in Lake Hāwea is 9.6 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #24 safest of 120 ranked suburbs in Otago Region. The overall crime trend in the area has remained the same in recent months with criminal activity peaking in December 2025, January 2026, May 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 9.0%
  Theft accounts for 9.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 8.0%
  Burglary accounts for 8.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 2.0%
  Assault accounts for 2.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Lake Hāwea ›

Lake Hāwea Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

1,998

Households

726

Median income

$107,053

Median rent

$535

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

450 (22.5%)

Age 15-64

1,323 (66.2%)

Age 65+

219 (11%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,449 (73.3%)

Born overseas

528 (26.7%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,869 · 85.7%

Māori

177 · 8.1%

Pacific

15 · 0.7%

Asian

54 · 2.5%

MELAA

45 · 2.1%

Other

21 · 1%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,404 · 99.8%

Not owned

510 · 36.2%

Other

165 · 11.7%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

525 (24.4%)

Two families

18 (0.8%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,605 (74.7%)

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

FAQ

• Is Lake Hāwea a safe suburb to live in?

  Lake Hāwea has a safety score of 93/100, making it the #24 safest of 120 ranked suburbs in Otago Region. 89% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Lake Hāwea?

  The annual crime rate in Lake Hāwea is 9.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Upper Clutha Valley (Otago)