Waipaoa Safety Snapshot

Is Waipaoa safe? About average. Waipaoa has a safety score of 41/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 41% of New Zealand suburbs, with 27.1 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #8 safest of 26 ranked suburbs in Gisborne.

The annual total crime rate in Waipaoa is 27.1 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #8 safest of 26 ranked suburbs in Gisborne Region. The overall crime trend in the area has increased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in September 2025, December 2025, January 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Burglary 24.0%
  Burglary accounts for 24.0 percent of incidents.
• Theft 19.0%
  Theft accounts for 19.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 10.0%
  Assault accounts for 10.0 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 2.0%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 2.0 percent of incidents.
• Harm Or Endanger Persons 2.0%
  Harm Or Endanger Persons accounts for 2.0 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Waipaoa ›

Waipaoa Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,130

Households

705

Median income

$80,586

Median rent

$215

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

504 (23.7%)

Age 15-64

1,341 (63%)

Age 65+

276 (13%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,986 (95.1%)

Born overseas

102 (4.9%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,320 · 50.5%

Māori

1,191 · 45.6%

Pacific

45 · 1.7%

Asian

27 · 1%

MELAA

9 · 0.3%

Other

21 · 0.8%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,371 · 100%

Not owned

753 · 55.4%

Other

273 · 20.1%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

408 (20.2%)

Two families

36 (1.8%)

Three+ families

3 (0.1%)

Other composition

1,572 (77.9%)

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

FAQ

• Is Waipaoa a safe suburb to live in?

  Waipaoa has a safety score of 41/100, making it the #8 safest of 26 ranked suburbs in Gisborne Region. 75% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Waipaoa?

  The annual crime rate in Waipaoa is 27.1 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz