Lumsden-Balfour Safety Snapshot

Is Lumsden-Balfour safe? Yes. Lumsden-Balfour has a safety score of 94/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 94% of New Zealand suburbs, with 18.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #6 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland.

The annual total crime rate in Lumsden-Balfour is 18.6 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #6 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in January 2026, February 2026, April 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Burglary 13.0%
  Burglary accounts for 13.0 percent of incidents.
• Theft 7.0%
  Theft accounts for 7.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 3.0%
  Assault accounts for 3.0 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 Lumsden-Balfour ›

Lumsden-Balfour Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

1,317

Households

531

Median income

$81,887

Median rent

$204

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

285 (21.6%)

Age 15-64

825 (62.6%)

Age 65+

189 (14.4%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,071 (81.9%)

Born overseas

237 (18.1%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,146 · 79.4%

Māori

141 · 9.8%

Pacific

21 · 1.5%

Asian

108 · 7.5%

MELAA

6 · 0.4%

Other

21 · 1.5%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

942 · 98.7%

Not owned

396 · 41.5%

Other

87 · 9.1%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

354 (22.5%)

Two families

3 (0.2%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,218 (77.3%)

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

FAQ

• Is Lumsden-Balfour a safe suburb to live in?

  Lumsden-Balfour has a safety score of 94/100, making it the #6 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland Region. 83% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Lumsden-Balfour?

  The annual crime rate in Lumsden-Balfour is 18.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz