Ōtaki Safety Snapshot

Is Ōtaki safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Ōtaki has a safety score of 12/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 12% of New Zealand suburbs, with 93.3 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #187 safest of 215 ranked suburbs in Wellington.

The annual total crime rate in Ōtaki is 93.3 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #187 safest of 215 ranked suburbs in Wellington Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in October 2025, January 2026, March 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 61.3%
  Theft accounts for 61.3 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 29.5%
  Burglary accounts for 29.5 percent of incidents.
• Assault 8.0%
  Assault accounts for 8.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 1.1%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 1.1 percent of incidents.

---

View full safety overview for Ōtaki ›

Ōtaki Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

3,777

Households

1,554

Median income

$61,793

Median rent

$379

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

696 (18.4%)

Age 15-64

2,184 (57.8%)

Age 65+

849 (22.5%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

3,165 (84.9%)

Born overseas

564 (15.1%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,637 · 55.8%

Māori

1,524 · 32.3%

Pacific

249 · 5.3%

Asian

222 · 4.7%

MELAA

30 · 0.6%

Other

63 · 1.3%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,760 · 99.6%

Not owned

1,284 · 46.3%

Other

291 · 10.5%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

849 (18.4%)

Two families

36 (0.8%)

Three+ families

3 (0.1%)

Other composition

3,720 (80.7%)

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

FAQ

• Is Ōtaki a safe suburb to live in?

  Ōtaki has a safety score of 12/100, making it the #187 safest of 215 ranked suburbs in Wellington Region. 91% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Ōtaki?

  The annual crime rate in Ōtaki is 93.3 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Ōtaki Beach (Wellington)
• Waitohu (Wellington)
• Forest Lakes (Kapiti Coast District) (Wellington)
• Te Horo (Wellington)
• Ōtaki Forks (Wellington)