Waikiwi Safety Snapshot

Is Waikiwi safe? Yes. Waikiwi has a safety score of 73/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 73% of New Zealand suburbs, with 17 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #18 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland.

The annual total crime rate in Waikiwi is 17 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #18 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland Region. The overall crime trend in the area has increased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in March 2026, July 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 17.0%
  Burglary accounts for 17.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 9.0%
  Assault accounts for 9.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 1.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 1.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Waikiwi ›

Waikiwi Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

3,525

Households

1,353

Median income

$86,409

Median rent

$370

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

534 (15.1%)

Age 15-64

1,713 (48.6%)

Age 65+

1,233 (35%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

3,081 (87.7%)

Born overseas

432 (12.3%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

3,075 · 79%

Māori

429 · 11%

Pacific

93 · 2.4%

Asian

231 · 5.9%

MELAA

12 · 0.3%

Other

51 · 1.3%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,805 · 99.7%

Not owned

960 · 34.1%

Other

156 · 5.5%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

888 (22%)

Two families

12 (0.3%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

3,135 (77.7%)

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

FAQ

• Is Waikiwi a safe suburb to live in?

  Waikiwi has a safety score of 73/100, making it the #18 safest of 53 ranked suburbs in Southland Region. 83% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Waikiwi?

  The annual crime rate in Waikiwi is 17 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Prestonville-Grasmere (Southland)
• Rosedale-Hargest (Southland)
• Gladstone (Invercargill City) (Southland)
• Windsor (Southland)
• Avenal (Southland)
• Waverley (Invercargill City) (Southland)
• Myross Bush (Southland)
• Richmond (Invercargill City) (Southland)
• Glengarry (Southland)
• Turnbull Thompson Park (Southland)