Murchison-Nelson Lakes Safety Snapshot

Is Murchison-Nelson Lakes safe? About average. Murchison-Nelson Lakes has a safety score of 61/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 61% of New Zealand suburbs, with 27.9 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #25 safest of 30 ranked suburbs in Tasman.

The annual total crime rate in Murchison-Nelson Lakes is 27.9 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #25 safest of 30 ranked suburbs in Tasman Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in January 2026, February 2026, March 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 11.0%
  Burglary accounts for 11.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 5.0%
  Assault accounts for 5.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 2.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 2.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Murchison-Nelson Lakes ›

Murchison-Nelson Lakes Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

1,488

Households

630

Median income

$63,217

Median rent

$238

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

258 (17.3%)

Age 15-64

846 (56.9%)

Age 65+

363 (24.4%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,272 (85.8%)

Born overseas

210 (14.2%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,389 · 84.2%

Māori

150 · 9.1%

Pacific

15 · 0.9%

Asian

51 · 3.1%

MELAA

9 · 0.5%

Other

36 · 2.2%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,125 · 99.7%

Not owned

402 · 35.6%

Other

93 · 8.2%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

363 (19.8%)

Two families

15 (0.8%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,458 (79.4%)

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

FAQ

• Is Murchison-Nelson Lakes a safe suburb to live in?

  Murchison-Nelson Lakes has a safety score of 61/100, making it the #25 safest of 30 ranked suburbs in Tasman Region. 83% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Murchison-Nelson Lakes?

  The annual crime rate in Murchison-Nelson Lakes is 27.9 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz