Merrilands Safety Snapshot

Is Merrilands safe? Yes. Merrilands has a safety score of 70/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 70% of New Zealand suburbs, with 16.9 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #26 safest of 61 ranked suburbs in Taranaki.

The annual total crime rate in Merrilands is 16.9 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #26 safest of 61 ranked suburbs in Taranaki Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in September 2025, November 2025, January 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 23.0%
  Theft accounts for 23.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 18.0%
  Burglary accounts for 18.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 9.0%
  Assault accounts for 9.0 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 Merrilands ›

Merrilands Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

3,039

Households

1,215

Median income

$76,015

Median rent

$378

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

579 (19.1%)

Age 15-64

1,791 (58.9%)

Age 65+

672 (22.1%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

2,433 (80.1%)

Born overseas

606 (19.9%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,475 · 71.1%

Māori

570 · 16.4%

Pacific

135 · 3.9%

Asian

219 · 6.3%

MELAA

33 · 0.9%

Other

48 · 1.4%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,322 · 99.6%

Not owned

1,029 · 44.1%

Other

135 · 5.8%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

783 (21.9%)

Two families

27 (0.8%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

2,772 (77.4%)

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

FAQ

• Is Merrilands a safe suburb to live in?

  Merrilands has a safety score of 70/100, making it the #26 safest of 61 ranked suburbs in Taranaki Region. 80% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Merrilands?

  The annual crime rate in Merrilands is 16.9 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Strandon (Taranaki)
• Highlands Park (New Plymouth District) (Taranaki)
• Glen Avon (Taranaki)
• Lower Vogeltown (Taranaki)
• Fitzroy (New Plymouth District) (Taranaki)
• Welbourn (Taranaki)
• New Plymouth Central (Taranaki)
• Kawaroa (Taranaki)
• Upper Vogeltown (Taranaki)
• Westown (Taranaki)