Prestons Safety Snapshot

Is Prestons safe? Yes. Prestons has a safety score of 90/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 90% of New Zealand suburbs, with 17.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #34 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury.

The annual total crime rate in Prestons is 17.8 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #34 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury Region. The overall crime trend in the area has increased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in October 2025, March 2026, August 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 32.0%
  Theft accounts for 32.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 7.0%
  Burglary accounts for 7.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 2.0%
  Assault accounts for 2.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Prestons ›

Prestons Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,325

Households

822

Median income

$129,142

Median rent

$585

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

501 (21.5%)

Age 15-64

1,497 (64.4%)

Age 65+

345 (14.8%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,830 (79.1%)

Born overseas

483 (20.9%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,007 · 77.4%

Māori

210 · 8.1%

Pacific

63 · 2.4%

Asian

234 · 9%

MELAA

33 · 1.3%

Other

45 · 1.7%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,761 · 99.8%

Not owned

456 · 25.9%

Other

57 · 3.2%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

669 (27.1%)

Two families

15 (0.6%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,782 (72.3%)

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

FAQ

• Is Prestons a safe suburb to live in?

  Prestons has a safety score of 90/100, making it the #34 safest of 288 ranked suburbs in Canterbury Region. 95% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Prestons?

  The annual crime rate in Prestons is 17.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Waitikiri (Canterbury)
• Marshland (Canterbury)
• Prestons Park (Canterbury)
• Burlington-Oakbridge (Canterbury)
• Queenspark (Canterbury)
• Burwood North (Canterbury)
• Belfast East (Canterbury)
• Redwood North (Canterbury)
• Shirley East (Canterbury)
• Styx (Canterbury)