Oreti River Safety Snapshot

Is Oreti River safe? Yes. Oreti River has a safety score of 88/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 88% of New Zealand suburbs, with 13.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #10 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland.

The annual total crime rate in Oreti River is 13.2 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #10 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 November 2025, December 2025, April 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Burglary 14.0%
  Burglary accounts for 14.0 percent of incidents.
• Theft 10.0%
  Theft accounts for 10.0 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.

---

View full safety overview for Oreti River ›

Oreti River Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,157

Households

792

Median income

$101,250

Median rent

$214

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

447 (20.7%)

Age 15-64

1,362 (63.1%)

Age 65+

357 (16.6%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,806 (84.2%)

Born overseas

339 (15.8%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,869 · 79.8%

Māori

216 · 9.2%

Pacific

18 · 0.8%

Asian

198 · 8.5%

MELAA

15 · 0.6%

Other

27 · 1.2%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,614 · 100%

Not owned

687 · 42.6%

Other

87 · 5.4%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

579 (24.6%)

Two families

12 (0.5%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,764 (74.9%)

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

FAQ

• Is Oreti River a safe suburb to live in?

  Oreti River has a safety score of 88/100, making it the #10 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland Region. 86% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Oreti River?

  The annual crime rate in Oreti River is 13.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz