Upper Wairau Safety Snapshot

Is Upper Wairau safe? Yes. Upper Wairau has a safety score of 97/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 97% of New Zealand suburbs, with 13.1 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #3 safest of 23 ranked suburbs in Marlborough.

The annual total crime rate in Upper Wairau is 13.1 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #3 safest of 23 ranked suburbs in Marlborough Region. The overall crime trend in the area has remained the same in recent months with criminal activity peaking in March 2026, April 2026, August 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Burglary 15.0%
  Burglary accounts for 15.0 percent of incidents.
• Theft 8.0%
  Theft accounts for 8.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 4.0%
  Assault accounts for 4.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Upper Wairau ›

Upper Wairau Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,091

Households

786

Median income

$115,343

Median rent

$350

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

408 (19.5%)

Age 15-64

1,296 (62%)

Age 65+

354 (16.9%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,749 (83.4%)

Born overseas

348 (16.6%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,995 · 86.8%

Māori

192 · 8.4%

Pacific

30 · 1.3%

Asian

15 · 0.7%

MELAA

15 · 0.7%

Other

51 · 2.2%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,584 · 99.8%

Not owned

540 · 34%

Other

102 · 6.4%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

621 (26.7%)

Two families

18 (0.8%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

1,686 (72.5%)

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

FAQ

• Is Upper Wairau a safe suburb to live in?

  Upper Wairau has a safety score of 97/100, making it the #3 safest of 23 ranked suburbs in Marlborough Region. 85% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Upper Wairau?

  The annual crime rate in Upper Wairau is 13.1 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz