Ōpunake Safety Snapshot

Is Ōpunake safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Ōpunake has a safety score of 12/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 12% of New Zealand suburbs, with 42.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #59 safest of 61 ranked suburbs in Taranaki.

The annual total crime rate in Ōpunake is 42.7 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #59 safest of 61 ranked suburbs in Taranaki Region. The overall crime trend in the area has remained the same in recent months with criminal activity peaking in December 2025, January 2026, August 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Burglary 21.0%
  Burglary accounts for 21.0 percent of incidents.
• Theft 21.0%
  Theft accounts for 21.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 15.0%
  Assault accounts for 15.0 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 4.0%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 4.0 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 Ōpunake ›

Ōpunake Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

1,476

Households

582

Median income

$63,178

Median rent

$283

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

270 (18.3%)

Age 15-64

876 (59.3%)

Age 65+

327 (22.2%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,320 (90.2%)

Born overseas

144 (9.8%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,167 · 63.3%

Māori

570 · 30.9%

Pacific

39 · 2.1%

Asian

42 · 2.3%

MELAA

9 · 0.5%

Other

18 · 1%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,101 · 100%

Not owned

471 · 43.3%

Other

105 · 9.6%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

330 (19.3%)

Two families

21 (1.2%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,356 (79.4%)

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

FAQ

• Is Ōpunake a safe suburb to live in?

  Ōpunake has a safety score of 12/100, making it the #59 safest of 61 ranked suburbs in Taranaki Region. 67% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Ōpunake?

  The annual crime rate in Ōpunake is 42.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz