Ōtautau Safety Snapshot

Is Ōtautau safe? Yes. Ōtautau has a safety score of 74/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 74% of New Zealand suburbs, with 15.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #17 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland.

The annual total crime rate in Ōtautau is 15.8 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #17 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland Region. The overall crime trend in the area has increased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in April 2026, June 2026, July 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 15.0%
  Theft accounts for 15.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 5.0%
  Assault accounts for 5.0 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 2.0%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 2.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 1.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 1.0 percent of incidents.

---

View full safety overview for Ōtautau ›

Ōtautau Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,847

Households

1,068

Median income

$85,761

Median rent

$197

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

657 (23.1%)

Age 15-64

1,800 (63.2%)

Age 65+

405 (14.2%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

2,379 (83.6%)

Born overseas

468 (16.4%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,361 · 76.1%

Māori

309 · 10%

Pacific

24 · 0.8%

Asian

318 · 10.3%

MELAA

15 · 0.5%

Other

75 · 2.4%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,061 · 100%

Not owned

957 · 46.5%

Other

117 · 5.7%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

762 (23.8%)

Two families

6 (0.2%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

2,427 (76%)

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

FAQ

• Is Ōtautau a safe suburb to live in?

  Ōtautau has a safety score of 74/100, making it the #17 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland Region. 82% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Ōtautau?

  The annual crime rate in Ōtautau is 15.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz