Ōwhata West Safety Snapshot

Is Ōwhata West safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Ōwhata West has a safety score of 27/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 27% of New Zealand suburbs, with 45.4 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #94 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty.

The annual total crime rate in Ōwhata West is 45.4 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #94 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty Region. The overall crime trend in the area has remained the same in recent months with criminal activity peaking in December 2025, May 2026, June 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 54.1%
  Theft accounts for 54.1 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 32.2%
  Burglary accounts for 32.2 percent of incidents.
• Assault 11.6%
  Assault accounts for 11.6 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 1.4%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 1.4 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 0.7%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 0.7 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Ōwhata West ›

Ōwhata West Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

3,228

Households

1,044

Median income

$87,037

Median rent

$469

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

867 (26.9%)

Age 15-64

1,944 (60.2%)

Age 65+

432 (13.4%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

2,670 (83.2%)

Born overseas

540 (16.8%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,839 · 44.7%

Māori

1,635 · 39.7%

Pacific

204 · 5%

Asian

372 · 9%

MELAA

27 · 0.7%

Other

39 · 0.9%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,082 · 99.3%

Not owned

996 · 47.5%

Other

279 · 13.3%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

681 (22.2%)

Two families

42 (1.4%)

Three+ families

3 (0.1%)

Other composition

2,337 (76.3%)

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

FAQ

• Is Ōwhata West a safe suburb to live in?

  Ōwhata West has a safety score of 27/100, making it the #94 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty Region. 86% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Ōwhata West?

  The annual crime rate in Ōwhata West is 45.4 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Ōwhata East (Bay of Plenty)
• Lynmore (Bay of Plenty)
• Ngapuna (Bay of Plenty)
• Holdens Bay-Rotokawa (Bay of Plenty)
• Rotorua Central (Bay of Plenty)
• Fenton Park (Bay of Plenty)
• Kuirau (Bay of Plenty)
• Victoria (Bay of Plenty)
• Glenholme North (Bay of Plenty)
• Glenholme South (Bay of Plenty)