Waipāwa Safety Snapshot

Is Waipāwa safe? About average. Waipāwa has a safety score of 44/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 44% of New Zealand suburbs, with 35.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #40 safest of 79 ranked suburbs in Hawke's Bay.

The annual total crime rate in Waipāwa is 35.8 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #40 safest of 79 ranked suburbs in Hawke's Bay Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in February 2026, March 2026, August 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 54.0%
  Theft accounts for 54.0 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 23.0%
  Burglary accounts for 23.0 percent of incidents.
• Assault 6.0%
  Assault accounts for 6.0 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 Waipāwa ›

Waipāwa Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

2,334

Households

882

Median income

$71,014

Median rent

$302

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

501 (21.5%)

Age 15-64

1,350 (57.8%)

Age 65+

462 (19.8%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

1,989 (85.9%)

Born overseas

327 (14.1%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,962 · 69.3%

Māori

618 · 21.8%

Pacific

138 · 4.9%

Asian

54 · 1.9%

MELAA

27 · 1%

Other

33 · 1.2%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

1,617 · 100%

Not owned

522 · 32.8%

Other

225 · 14.1%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

534 (20.7%)

Two families

15 (0.6%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

2,034 (78.7%)

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

FAQ

• Is Waipāwa a safe suburb to live in?

  Waipāwa has a safety score of 44/100, making it the #40 safest of 79 ranked suburbs in Hawke's Bay Region. 92% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Waipāwa?

  The annual crime rate in Waipāwa is 35.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Waipukurau East (Hawke's Bay)
• Waipukurau West (Hawke's Bay)