Opawa Safety Snapshot

Is Opawa safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Opawa has a safety score of 36/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 36% of New Zealand suburbs, with 60.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #191 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury.

The annual total crime rate in Opawa is 60.7 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #191 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in October 2025, November 2025, March 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 45.0%
  Theft accounts for 45.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 29.0%
  Burglary accounts for 29.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 7.0%
  Assault accounts for 7.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 2.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 2.0 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 Opawa ›

Opawa Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

1,401

Households

549

Median income

$83,645

Median rent

$404

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

213 (15.2%)

Age 15-64

828 (59.1%)

Age 65+

351 (25.1%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,065 (76.2%)

Born overseas

333 (23.8%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,248 · 82.4%

Māori

153 · 10.1%

Pacific

21 · 1.4%

Asian

60 · 4%

MELAA

15 · 1%

Other

18 · 1.2%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,116 · 98.9%

Not owned

468 · 41.5%

Other

60 · 5.3%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

333 (20.5%)

Two families

12 (0.7%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,281 (78.8%)

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

FAQ

• Is Opawa a safe suburb to live in?

  Opawa has a safety score of 36/100, making it the #191 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury Region. 88% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Opawa?

  The annual crime rate in Opawa is 60.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• St Martins (Canterbury)
• Hillsborough (Christchurch City) (Canterbury)
• Ensors (Canterbury)
• Waltham (Canterbury)
• Woolston West (Canterbury)
• Charleston (Christchurch City) (Canterbury)
• Sydenham North (Canterbury)
• Sydenham South (Canterbury)
• Beckenham (Canterbury)
• Lancaster Park (Canterbury)