Otawa Safety Snapshot

Is Otawa safe? About average. Otawa has a safety score of 59/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 59% of New Zealand suburbs, with 24.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #55 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty.

The annual total crime rate in Otawa is 24.6 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #55 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in November 2025, March 2026, April 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Burglary 23.0%
  Burglary accounts for 23.0 percent of incidents.
• Theft 17.0%
  Theft accounts for 17.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 10.0%
  Assault accounts for 10.0 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 2.0%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 2.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Otawa ›

Otawa Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,130

Households

690

Median income

$113,065

Median rent

$381

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

405 (19%)

Age 15-64

1,353 (63.5%)

Age 65+

372 (17.5%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,776 (83.7%)

Born overseas

345 (16.3%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,839 · 75.2%

Māori

378 · 15.5%

Pacific

69 · 2.8%

Asian

126 · 5.2%

MELAA

12 · 0.5%

Other

21 · 0.9%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,488 · 100%

Not owned

618 · 41.5%

Other

234 · 15.7%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

480 (23.8%)

Two families

33 (1.6%)

Three+ families

3 (0.1%)

Other composition

1,497 (74.4%)

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

FAQ

• Is Otawa a safe suburb to live in?

  Otawa has a safety score of 59/100, making it the #55 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty Region. 77% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Otawa?

  The annual crime rate in Otawa is 24.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Te Puke West (Bay of Plenty)
• Te Puke South (Bay of Plenty)
• Te Puke East (Bay of Plenty)
• Waitao (Bay of Plenty)
• Rangiuru (Bay of Plenty)