Living in Cambridge

In Cambridge, unemployment is 1.9% (2023).

The city covers 27.35 km², with a population density of 859.3 people per km² in March 2023. The population of Cambridge, in New Zealand, was 21,366 in March 2023.

Last checked 2026-10-0716 sources

Population21,366people7 Mar 2023Official source · Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population

Median gross salary (region)3,063EUR/month30 Jun 2025Official source · Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter

Median rent1,381EUR/month31 Jul 2026District figureOfficial source · Rental bond data — monthly by territorial authority

Unemployment rate1.9%country median 3.3% — 42% belowOfficial source · tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz

Recorded crime4,312incidents per 100,00030 Jun 2026District figureOfficial source · Victimisations Time and Place — Map export, July 2025 to June 2026

PM2.5, annual mean5.57µg/m³31 Dec 2024Nearest stationOfficial source · LAWA Air Quality Dataset (2016–2025), daily PM2.5 observations

Lower unemployment than 85% of New Zealand cities that publish it and cleaner air than 93% of New Zealand cities that publish it.

Which New Zealand-wide rules apply when you move to Cambridge?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in New ZealandNational rates and thresholds that apply in Cambridge.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Mobile plan, 10 GB€37

Internet, 60 Mbps€36

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	35.54 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	One NZ fixed broadband⁵Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	37.06 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	One NZ Endless Plus⁵Official · national market
Median monthly rent	1,381 EUR/month	31 Jul 2026	Rental bond data — monthly by territorial authority⁸Official · county

Is Cambridge a good place to live?

There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.

Try your profile

Remote worker42%strong on work, weak on safety · range 31–53%

Skilled employee71%strong on work, weak on education · range 61–81%

Student33%strong on legal route, weak on education · range 21–45%

Family63%strong on family, weak on education · range 51–75%

Retirement29%strong on air quality, weak on admin · range 15–43%

Work and income

What is the unemployment rate in Cambridge?

The unemployment rate is 1.9 % (2023 Census). Source: tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz¹⁴

Unemployment across cities in New ZealandUnemployment in Cambridge is 1.9%. Of 91 cities with data, 42 have unemployment of 2 to under 4%.

0–22–44–66–88–1014–16

Cambridge 1.9%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Median gross salary (regional)	3,063 EUR/month	30 Jun 2025	Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter¹²Official · regional context
Unemployment rate	1.9 %country median 3.3%	31 Dec 2023	tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz¹⁴Official

What does a salary buy in Cambridge?

Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.

Left over each month€1,019of €2,472 take-home

Rent
Internet
Mobile
Left over

Line-by-line breakdown and sources

Each month	€
Take-home payOECD Taxing Wages 2025, single, no children. Includes central and local income tax and employee social contributions; euro amounts at the ECB average for 2026-08.	€2,472
Rentmedian rent of a whole dwelling · official · Rental bond data · 2026-07-31	− €1,381
Internet€36 · official · One NZ fixed broadband · 2026-09-30	− €36
Mobile plan€37 · official · One NZ Endless Plus · 2026-09-30	− €37
Other everyday billsnot published for this city: public transport pass, utilities	—
Left overbefore the bills this city does not publish	€1,019

Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Cambridge Salary needed to live in Cambridge

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Cambridge. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

Work and Income employment service — Public employment service

Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand

Job Search

Open official service

Open the New Zealand service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Cambridge. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.

Safety

How safe is Cambridge?

Police recorded about 4,312 incidents per 100,000 (2025-07/2026-06). This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: Victimisations Time and Place — Map export, July 2025 to June 2026¹⁵

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	4,312 incidents per 100,000	30 Jun 2026	Victimisations Time and Place — Map export, July 2025 to June 2026¹⁵Official · county

Mobility and administration

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Destinations from nearest airport	4 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights⁶Official
Nearest airport	HLZ	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁷Official
Distance to nearest airport	10 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁷Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Cambridge. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.

Country-level information

English Language Teaching — Intensive Literacy and Numeracy Fund — State Language Course

Tertiary Education Commission

For adult migrants, refugees, adult speakers of other languages.

EnglishIn Person, Online, HybridSubsidised

Open official information

New Zealand settlement services — Newcomer Adaptation

Immigration New Zealand

For migrants, refugees, newcomers.

In Person, Online, HybridFree

Open official information

Open the full New Zealand section

National programme information is not treated as proof of a course location in Cambridge.

Find courses near Cambridge

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Cambridge?

The annual PM2.5 mean is about 5.6 µg/m³ (2024) — above the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³ but within the EU limit of 25 µg/m³.

Annual mean at the measuring site(s) serving the city; current-day readings differ.

PM2.5 — annual mean: 5.57 µg/m³ · LAWA Air Quality Dataset (2016–2025), daily PM2.5 observations²

Air quality vs health guidelinesAnnual means against WHO 2021 guidelines and EU legal limits

Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³

PM2.55.6WHO 5 · EU 25

City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.

PM2.5 across cities in New ZealandAnnual PM2.5 in Cambridge is 5.6 µg/m³. Of 15 cities with data, 3 have annual PM2.5 of 8 to under 9 µg/m³.

5–67–88–99–1010–1111–1215–16

Cambridge 5.6

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	5.57 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	LAWA Air Quality Dataset (2016–2025), daily PM2.5 observations²Official · nearest-station reading
Monthly extreme high temperature	Jan 31.3 · Feb 29.76 · Mar 29.48 · Apr 26.26 · May 22.08 · Jun 18.34 · Jul 16.64 · Aug 19.47 · Sep 21.31 · Oct 24.93 · Nov 29.37 · Dec 28.93 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center³Official
Monthly extreme low temperature	Jan 5.54 · Feb 6.27 · Mar 4.31 · Apr 2.08 · May -1.29 · Jun -1.97 · Jul -2.18 · Aug -2.05 · Sep -1.46 · Oct -0.09 · Nov 2.57 · Dec 3.33 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center³Official
Average temperature by month	Jan 18.48 · Feb 18.71 · Mar 16.86 · Apr 14.08 · May 11.33 · Jun 9.03 · Jul 7.98 · Aug 8.91 · Sep 10.59 · Oct 12.32 · Nov 14.49 · Dec 16.8 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center³Official

Population and city profile

How many people live in Cambridge?

The published population was 21,366 people in March 2023. Source: Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population¹¹

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport74.6%
Foreign residents25.4%

Calculated from the population and foreign-resident facts on this page.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	27.35 km²	1 Jan 2023	Official Stats NZ Urban-rural 2023 area for the exact UR2023 urban-area code. AREA_SQ_KM is the clipped official geography used here; no territorial-authority or SA observation is substituted.⁴Official
Foreign residents	5,427 people	31 Dec 2023	tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz¹⁴Official
Population density	859.3 people/km²	7 Mar 2023	Reproducible exact-UR2023 density using the existing official Stats NZ population denominator and the exact official UR2023 area. No observation geography is promoted.⁹Official
Population	21,366 people	7 Mar 2023	Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population¹¹Official

International community in Cambridge

Named groups from exact city-grain official distributions. Citizenship, birthplace, language and ancestry answer different questions and stay separate.

Country of birth

Census usually resident population count for the 2023 Census place-summary geography · 2023 Census

Published group	People	Share
United Kingdom and Ireland	2,037	9.6%
Middle East and Africa	1,035	4.9%
Asia	1,032	4.9%
Australia	474	2.2%
Europe (excl United Kingdom and Ireland)	405	1.9%
North America	213	1.0%
Pacific Islands	117	0.6%
Other	114	0.5%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹⁰

Ancestry or ethnicity

Census usually resident population count for the 2023 Census place-summary geography · 2023 Census

Published group	People	Share
New Zealand European	17,076	79.9%
Māori	2,331	10.9%
Other European	2,097	9.8%
Indian	636	3.0%
Southeast Asian	342	1.6%
Chinese	342	1.6%
Other Ethnicity	276	1.3%
Other Asian	213	1.0%
Samoan	174	0.8%
Cook Islands Maori	132	0.6%

Show 11 more groups

Published group	People	Share
European nfd	117	0.5%
Latin American	117	0.5%
Niuean	36	0.2%
Middle Eastern	36	0.2%
African	36	0.2%
Other Pacific Peoples	30	0.1%
Tongan	27	0.1%
Fijian	24	0.1%
Asian nfd	24	0.1%
Pacific Peoples nfd	12	0.1%
Tokelauan	6	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹⁰

Ancestry or ethnicity

Census usually resident population count for the 2023 Census place-summary geography · 2023 Census

Published group	People	Share
European	18,900	88.5%
Māori	2,331	10.9%
Asian	1,551	7.3%
Pacific Peoples	387	1.8%
Other Ethnicity	276	1.3%
Middle Eastern/Latin American/African	186	0.9%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹⁰

Alternatives for people set on Cambridge

Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.

Whangārei as a Cambridge alternative in the same country

A move, not a commute, at 262 km, better on 1 of 2 metrics measured the same way, worse on 0. Median gross pay, region cannot be compared like for like.

Residents: 53,841 Whangārei vs 21,366 Cambridge+152%
Median gross pay, region: €3,245 (2024) Whangārei vs €3,063 (2025) Cambridgeno percentage
Nearest airport: 6.0 km Whangārei vs 10.0 km Cambridge−40%

Full comparison More about Whangārei

Cities near Cambridge

Published cities within 25 km, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

Claudelands 19.9 km away

Rent: 1,228 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2026-07-31

Hamilton 21.6 km away

Rent: 1,214 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2026-07-31

Alternative cities in New Zealand

Other cities in New Zealand to compare with Cambridge, nearest in population first.

All New Zealand cities

Masterton21,606 residents Ashburton20,346 residents Levin19,533 residents Rangiora18,855 residents Richmond18,447 residents Queenstown25,050 residents

How does Cambridge compare?

Pick a city. The answer appears here and the address bar keeps it, so the comparison can be shared; the page stays Cambridge's.

Open the full comparison

Cambridge in rankings

#3 of 27 in Cities with lowest unemployment in New Zealand #4 of 12 in Cities with cleanest air in New Zealand #28 of 29 in Largest cities in New Zealand

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Cambridge when the national insurance or residence conditions are met.

Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.

Open the official coverage guide

Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

How many people live in Cambridge?

The published population was 21,366 people in March 2023. Source: Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population.

Is the air quality good in Cambridge?

The annual PM2.5 mean is about 5.6 µg/m³ (2024) — above the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³ but within the EU limit of 25 µg/m³. Source: LAWA Air Quality Dataset (2016–2025), daily PM2.5 observations.

How safe is Cambridge?

What is the unemployment rate in Cambridge?

The unemployment rate is 1.9 % (2023 Census). Source: tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz.

What is the typical salary around Cambridge?

The median gross salary is 3,063 EUR/month. Source: Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter.

How many foreign residents live in Cambridge?

5,427 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz.

Is Cambridge a good place to live?

Cambridge may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.

Which cities are near Cambridge?

Te Awamutu, Claudelands, Hamilton are near Cambridge. Typed relationship labels are shown where published; other rows use straight-line distance from admitted coordinates.

How many people born in United Kingdom and Ireland live in Cambridge?

The official country of birth distribution records 2,037 people (9.6%) in the source-defined population for 2023 Census. This is a country of birth measure, not a general estimate of ethnicity or migration status.

Cite this page

Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.

APA citation

ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 16). Cambridge, New Zealand: population, rent, salary, jobs [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 54b2dc0607525a995c7a0559e96ab81f]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/cambridge/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_cambridge-new-zealand-population-rent-salary-jobs_c0ea81fef31d,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Cambridge, New Zealand: population, rent, salary, jobs},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {54b2dc0607525a995c7a0559e96ab81f},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/cambridge/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Cambridge, New Zealand: population, rent, salary, jobs](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/cambridge/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 54b2dc0607525a995c7a0559e96ab81f; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.

This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.

Sources

JSON Markdown

Coordinate identity evidence services2.arcgis.com · checked 2026-09-06
LAWA Air Quality Dataset (2016–2025), daily PM2.5 observations lawa.org.nz · checked 2026-10-06
NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center power.larc.nasa.gov · checked 2026-08-03
Official Stats NZ Urban-rural 2023 area for the exact UR2023 urban-area code. AREA_SQ_KM is the clipped official geography used here; no territorial-authority or SA observation is substituted. services2.arcgis.com · checked 2023-01-01
One NZ fixed broadband one.nz · checked 2026-09-15
OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03
Rental bond data — monthly by territorial authority Rental bond data · tenancy.govt.nz · checked 2026-10-06
Reproducible exact-UR2023 density using the existing official Stats NZ population denominator and the exact official UR2023 area. No observation geography is promoted. services2.arcgis.com · checked 2023-03-07
Stats NZ / Tatauranga Aotearoa tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz · checked 2026-08-30

Show 6 more sources

Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries · tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz · checked 2026-08-13
Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter api.data.stats.govt.nz · checked 2026-10-07
Tenancy Services (MBIE) — Detailed monthly rental bond data by territorial authority (median weekly rent) Tenancy Services (MBIE) · tenancy.govt.nz · checked 2026-09-18
tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz · checked 2026-08-27
Victimisations Time and Place — Map export, July 2025 to June 2026 Victimisations Time and Place · public.tableau.com · checked 2026-10-05
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06

Spotted a number that looks wrong? Every value here carries its source and date — tell us what you found and we will re-check it against the source.