Whakatāne West Safety Snapshot

Is Whakatāne West safe? About average. Whakatāne West has a safety score of 42/100, meaning less recorded crime harm per resident than about 42% of New Zealand suburbs, with 31.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. It is the #75 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty.

The annual total crime rate in Whakatāne West is 31.2 crimes per thousand residents, making it the #75 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty Region. The overall crime trend in the area has decreased in recent months with criminal activity peaking in November 2025, April 2026, May 2026.

How the safety score works

Offence breakdown · past 12 months

Based on total incidents. Police data to August 2026

• Theft 50.5%
  Theft accounts for 50.5 percent of incidents.
• Burglary 31.8%
  Burglary accounts for 31.8 percent of incidents.
• Assault 13.1%
  Assault accounts for 13.1 percent of incidents.
• Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion 2.8%
  Robbery, Blackmail, And Extortion accounts for 2.8 percent of incidents.
• Sexual Offences 1.9%
  Sexual Offences accounts for 1.9 percent of incidents.

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View full safety overview for Whakatāne West ›

Whakatāne West Demographics

2023 Census data

Loaded live from the API for this suburb.

Population

3,450

Households

1,101

Median income

$81,612

Median rent

$357

Age distribution

Share of total population.

Age 0-14

891 (25.8%)

Age 15-64

2,046 (59.3%)

Age 65+

471 (13.7%)

Birthplace

Share of stated birthplace records.

Born in NZ

3,009 (88.2%)

Born overseas

402 (11.8%)

Ethnicity

Normalised to ethnicity responses (can exceed population).

European

2,055 · 47%

Māori

1,887 · 43.2%

Pacific

216 · 4.9%

Asian

147 · 3.4%

MELAA

24 · 0.5%

Other

42 · 1%

Home tenure (as stored)

Normalised to stated total when present.

Owned

2,271 · 99.6%

Not owned

1,191 · 52.2%

Other

261 · 11.4%

Household composition

Normalised to household composition total.

One family

720 (22.2%)

Two families

48 (1.5%)

Three+ families

9 (0.3%)

Other composition

2,469 (76.1%)

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

FAQ

• Is Whakatāne West a safe suburb to live in?

  Whakatāne West has a safety score of 42/100, making it the #75 safest of 138 ranked suburbs in Bay of Plenty Region. 82% of recorded crime is property crime (theft, burglary, fraud or damage).

• What is the crime rate in Whakatāne West?

  The annual crime rate in Whakatāne West is 31.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents.

For deeper suburb insights visit CrimeStats.co.nz

Nearby Suburbs

• Trident (Bay of Plenty)
• Allandale (Bay of Plenty)
• Coastlands (Bay of Plenty)
• Whakatāne Central (Bay of Plenty)
• Mokorua Bush (Bay of Plenty)
• Thornton-Awakeri (Bay of Plenty)
• Wainui (Bay of Plenty)