Palmerston Safety Snapshot

Is Palmerston safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Palmerston has a safety score of 22/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 22% of New Zealand suburbs, with 42.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #109 safest of 120 ranked suburbs in Otago.

The annual total crime rate in Palmerston is 42.7 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #109 safest of 120 ranked suburbs in Otago Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in February 2026, April 2026, July 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 21.0%
  Theft accounts for 21.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 13.0%
  Burglary accounts for 13.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 9.0%
  Assault accounts for 9.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 1.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 1.0 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 1.0%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 1.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Palmerston ›

Palmerston Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

1,059

Households

468

Median income

$62,513

Median rent

$255

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

186 (17.6%)

Age 15-64

615 (58.1%)

Age 65+

264 (24.9%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

912 (87.1%)

Born overseas

135 (12.9%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

948 · 79%

Māori

162 · 13.5%

Pacific

30 · 2.5%

Asian

18 · 1.5%

MELAA

15 · 1.3%

Other

27 · 2.3%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

810 · 99.3%

Not owned

255 · 31.3%

Other

66 · 8.1%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

261 (18.9%)

Two families

0 (0%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,122 (81.1%)

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

FAQ

• Is Palmerston a safe suburb to live in?

  Palmerston has a safety score of 22/100, making it the #109 safest of 120 ranked suburbs in Otago Region. 76% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Palmerston?

  The annual crime rate in Palmerston is 42.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz