Pongakawa Safety Snapshot

Is Pongakawa safe? About average. Pongakawa has a safety score of 53/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 53% of New Zealand suburbs, with 29 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #61 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty.

The annual total crime rate in Pongakawa is 29 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #61 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty Region. The overall crime trend in the area has increased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in December 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 51.0%
  Theft accounts for 51.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 29.0%
  Burglary accounts for 29.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 9.0%
  Assault accounts for 9.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 3.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 3.0 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 Pongakawa ›

Pongakawa Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

3,261

Households

1,029

Median income

$104,253

Median rent

$363

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

771 (23.6%)

Age 15-64

2,055 (63%)

Age 65+

435 (13.3%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

2,808 (86.5%)

Born overseas

438 (13.5%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,652 · 68.5%

Māori

852 · 22%

Pacific

138 · 3.6%

Asian

135 · 3.5%

MELAA

30 · 0.8%

Other

66 · 1.7%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,199 · 100%

Not owned

1,041 · 47.3%

Other

297 · 13.5%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

699 (23.3%)

Two families

45 (1.5%)

Three+ families

3 (0.1%)

Other composition

2,247 (75.1%)

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

FAQ

• Is Pongakawa a safe suburb to live in?

  Pongakawa has a safety score of 53/100, making it the #61 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty Region. 85% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Pongakawa?

  The annual crime rate in Pongakawa is 29 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz