Wairoa Safety Snapshot

Is Wairoa safe? It has more recorded crime than most NZ suburbs. Wairoa has a safety score of 14/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 14% of New Zealand suburbs, with 59.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #72 safest of 79 ranked suburbs in Hawke's Bay.

The annual total crime rate in Wairoa is 59.7 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #72 safest of 79 ranked suburbs in Hawke's Bay Region. The overall crime trend in the area has increased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in June 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 41.1%
  Theft accounts for 41.1 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 36.5%
  Burglary accounts for 36.5 percent of incidents.
• Assault 19.5%
  Assault accounts for 19.5 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 2.1%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 2.1 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 0.7%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 0.7 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Wairoa ›

Wairoa Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

4,704

Households

1,605

Median income

$65,515

Median rent

$267

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

1,167 (24.8%)

Age 15-64

2,724 (57.9%)

Age 65+

795 (16.9%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

4,266 (92.5%)

Born overseas

345 (7.5%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

1,956 · 33.4%

Māori

3,516 · 60%

Pacific

228 · 3.9%

Asian

114 · 1.9%

MELAA

12 · 0.2%

Other

36 · 0.6%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,904 · 99.2%

Not owned

1,602 · 54.7%

Other

600 · 20.5%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

819 (17.6%)

Two families

93 (2%)

Three+ families

0 (0%)

Other composition

3,735 (80.4%)

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

FAQ

• Is Wairoa a safe suburb to live in?

  Wairoa has a safety score of 14/100, making it the #72 safest of 79 ranked suburbs in Hawke's Bay Region. 78% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Wairoa?

  The annual crime rate in Wairoa is 59.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz