Rutherford Safety Snapshot

Is Rutherford safe? About average. Rutherford has a safety score of 43/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 43% of New Zealand suburbs, with 37 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #18 safest of 23 ranked suburbs in Nelson.

The annual total crime rate in Rutherford is 37 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #18 safest of 23 ranked suburbs in Nelson Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in September 2025, February 2026, March 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 42.0%
  Theft accounts for 42.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 26.0%
  Burglary accounts for 26.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 19.0%
  Assault accounts for 19.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 5.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 5.0 percent of incidents.
• Harm Or Endanger Persons 1.0%
  Harm Or Endanger Persons 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 Rutherford ›

Rutherford Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,547

Households

993

Median income

$93,884

Median rent

$451

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

423 (16.6%)

Age 15-64

1,605 (63%)

Age 65+

501 (19.7%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,695 (66.5%)

Born overseas

852 (33.5%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,163 · 77.2%

Māori

231 · 8.2%

Pacific

78 · 2.8%

Asian

258 · 9.2%

MELAA

45 · 1.6%

Other

27 · 1%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,013 · 100%

Not owned

918 · 45.7%

Other

114 · 5.7%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

669 (22.8%)

Two families

12 (0.4%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

2,256 (76.8%)

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

FAQ

• Is Rutherford a safe suburb to live in?

  Rutherford has a safety score of 43/100, making it the #18 safest of 23 ranked suburbs in Nelson Region. 72% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Rutherford?

  The annual crime rate in Rutherford is 37 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Nelson Central-Trafalgar (Nelson)
• Victory (Nelson)
• Maitai (Nelson)
• Washington (Nelson)
• The Wood (Nelson)
• Britannia (Nelson)
• Toi Toi (Nelson)
• Grampians (Nelson)
• Port Nelson (Nelson)
• The Brook (Nelson)