Papakōwhai Safety Snapshot

Is Papakōwhai safe? Yes. Papakōwhai has a safety score of 74/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 74% of New Zealand suburbs, with 18.4 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #67 safest of 215 ranked suburbs in Wellington.

The annual total crime rate in Papakōwhai is 18.4 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #67 safest of 215 ranked suburbs in Wellington Region. The overall crime trend in the area has remained the same in recent months with criminal activity peaking in September 2025, July 2026, August 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 29.0%
  Theft accounts for 29.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 6.0%
  Assault accounts for 6.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 5.0%
  Burglary accounts for 5.0 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 Papakōwhai ›

Papakōwhai Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,298

Households

750

Median income

$146,219

Median rent

$636

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

465 (20.2%)

Age 15-64

1,434 (62.4%)

Age 65+

360 (15.7%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,725 (75.8%)

Born overseas

552 (24.2%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,821 · 66.2%

Māori

378 · 13.7%

Pacific

237 · 8.6%

Asian

252 · 9.2%

MELAA

48 · 1.7%

Other

15 · 0.5%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,758 · 99.7%

Not owned

636 · 36.1%

Other

75 · 4.3%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

591 (26.3%)

Two families

39 (1.7%)

Three+ families

6 (0.3%)

Other composition

1,611 (71.7%)

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

FAQ

• Is Papakōwhai a safe suburb to live in?

  Papakōwhai has a safety score of 74/100, making it the #67 safest of 215 ranked suburbs in Wellington Region. 81% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Papakōwhai?

  The annual crime rate in Papakōwhai is 18.4 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Ascot Park (Wellington)
• Aotea (Wellington)
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• Postgate (Wellington)
• Waitangirua Tairangi (Wellington)
• Paremata (Wellington)
• Inlet Porirua Harbour (Wellington)
• Whitby (Wellington)
• Waitangirua Corinna (Wellington)
• Cannons Creek East (Wellington)