Living in Hamilton

Hamilton is a city in New Zealand. Its population was 174,741 in March 2023. Hamilton covers 110.4 km², with a population density of 1,631 people per km² in March 2023.

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

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 Hamilton.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

No city-level rent figure is published for Hamilton. The available city-level cost figures remain below.

What recurs every month4 published recurring costs, € per month

Supplemental estimate lane; these items are not official statistics.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	48.33 EUR/month	31 Aug 2026	Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/nz/hamilton/⁹Community estimate · Supplemental context
Mobile plan, 10 GB	32.64 EUR/month	31 Aug 2026	Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/nz/hamilton/⁹Community estimate · Supplemental context
Monthly transport pass	36.14 EUR/month	31 Aug 2026	Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/nz/hamilton/⁹Community estimate · Supplemental context
Basic utilities, 85 m² home	51.22 EUR/month	31 Aug 2026	Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/nz/hamilton/⁹Community estimate · Supplemental context

Worked out from these numbers

How international is the population?

30.1% of residents hold a foreign nationality — 52,626 people of 174,741 people. This counts nationality, not place of birth, so long-settled residents who naturalised are not in it.

Work and income

Unemployment across cities in New ZealandUnemployment in Hamilton is 5.6%. Of 73 cities with data, 34 have unemployment of 2 to under 4%.

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Salary Net Avg Eur Month	2,371 EUR/month	31 Aug 2026	Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/nz/hamilton/⁹Community estimate · Supplemental context
Unemployment rate	5.6 %country median 3.2%	31 Dec 2023	Stats NZ⁶Official

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Hamilton. 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 Hamilton. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.

Mobility and administration

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Destinations from nearest airport	4 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights³Official
Nearest airport	HLZ	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁴Official
Distance to nearest airport	10 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁴Official

Language courses and integration in Hamilton

4 exact course-location records are linked to this city. Check the linked source for dates, availability and enrolment.

Verified locally

4verified local records

English Language Partners New Zealand

Settlement Centre Waikato, Boundary Road, Hamilton

View official record

Waikato Institute of Education

Level 5, 218 Anglesea Street, Hamilton Central, Hamilton 3204

View official record

Te Pūkenga – Wintec Centre for Languages

City Campus, Tristram Street, Hamilton

View official record

Check courses in Hamilton How the country programme works

Exact city-linked records checked 2026-08-10. Showing 3 representative locations from 4 verified records. Provider-supplied records are supplemental and are not presented as official accreditation.

Climate and air quality

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Climate Monthly Extreme High C	Jan 29.49 · Feb 28.26 · Mar 27.2 · Apr 24.2 · May 21.47 · Jun 18.48 · Jul 17.3 · Aug 17.95 · Sep 20.1 · Oct 21.71 · Nov 25.94 · Dec 27.17 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹Official
Climate Monthly Extreme Low C	Jan 8.17 · Feb 9.12 · Mar 6.56 · Apr 5.17 · May 2.16 · Jun 1.51 · Jul 1.08 · Aug 1.27 · Sep 1.36 · Oct 3.05 · Nov 5.18 · Dec 5.88 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹Official
Average temperature by month	Jan 18.71 · Feb 19.17 · Mar 17.79 · Apr 15.44 · May 13.09 · Jun 10.97 · Jul 9.82 · Aug 10.43 · Sep 11.77 · Oct 13.13 · Nov 14.94 · Dec 17.16 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹Official

Cities of a similar size in New Zealand

Closest published populations, for a like-for-like comparison.

All New Zealand cities

Tauranga161,000 residents Wellington202,689 residents Dunedin132,800 residents Lower Hutt114,200 residents New Plymouth90,100 residents Christchurch380,079 residents

Population and city profile

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

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

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	110.4 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.²Official
Foreign-resident share	30.1 %	31 Dec 2023	Stats NZ⁶Official
Foreign residents	52,626 people	31 Dec 2023	Stats NZ⁶Official
Population density	1,631 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.⁵Official
Population	174,741 people	7 Mar 2023	Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population⁸Official

International community in Hamilton

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
Asia	26,958	15.6%
Middle East and Africa	7,392	4.3%
United Kingdom and Ireland	5,790	3.3%
Pacific Islands	5,601	3.2%
Australia	2,622	1.5%
Europe (excl United Kingdom and Ireland)	1,908	1.1%
Other	1,266	0.7%
North America	1,089	0.6%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source⁷

Ancestry or ethnicity

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

Published group	People	Share
European	102,180	58.5%
Māori	44,445	25.4%
Asian	39,798	22.8%
Pacific Peoples	11,862	6.8%
Middle Eastern/Latin American/African	4,674	2.7%
Other Ethnicity	1,776	1.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source⁷

Ancestry or ethnicity

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

Published group	People	Share
New Zealand European	93,477	53.5%
Māori	44,445	25.4%
Indian	17,283	9.9%
Other European	10,767	6.2%
Chinese	9,771	5.6%
Southeast Asian	7,533	4.3%
Other Asian	4,989	2.9%
Samoan	4,170	2.4%
Cook Islands Maori	2,811	1.6%
Tongan	2,724	1.6%

Show 11 more groups

Published group	People	Share
African	1,932	1.1%
Other Ethnicity	1,776	1.0%
Latin American	1,434	0.8%
Middle Eastern	1,323	0.8%
Other Pacific Peoples	1,092	0.6%
Fijian	1,053	0.6%
Niuean	924	0.5%
Asian nfd	573	0.3%
European nfd	528	0.3%
Tokelauan	150	0.1%
Pacific Peoples nfd	96	0.1%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source⁷

Is Hamilton 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 worker53%strong on work, weak on air quality · range 42–64%

Skilled employee58%strong on work, weak on safety · range 48–68%

Student58%strong on cost, weak on safety · range 46–70%

Family53%strong on family, weak on safety · range 41–65%

Retirement52%strong on cost, weak on admin · range 38–66%

Foreign residents52,626 people31 Dec 2023Official source · Stats NZ

Population174,741 people7 Mar 2023Official source · Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population

Unemployment rate5.6 %31 Dec 2023Official source · Stats NZ

City area110.4 km²1 Jan 2023Official source · 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.

Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited48.33 EUR/month31 Aug 2026Community source · Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/nz/hamilton/

Mobile plan, 10 GB32.64 EUR/month31 Aug 2026Community source · Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/nz/hamilton/

Every value keeps its source, geographic scope and verification date · Last checked 2026-09-05

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Hamilton 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.

How does Hamilton compare?

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

Another city…

Common questions

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

What is the unemployment rate in Hamilton?

The unemployment rate is 5.6 %. Source: Stats NZ.

How many people live in Hamilton?

The published population is 174,741 people. Source: Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population.

How many foreign residents live in Hamilton?

52,626 people residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Stats NZ.

How much is public transport in Hamilton?

A monthly transport pass is 36.14 EUR/month. This is a supplemental estimate, not an official municipal measurement. Source: Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/nz/hamilton/.

Is Hamilton a good place to live?

Hamilton 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.

How many people born in Australia live in Hamilton?

The official country of birth distribution records 2,622 people (1.5%) 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, September 14). Hamilton, New Zealand: salary, cost of living, jobs, climate [ImmigrationDB compilation; snapshot approved-static-c751ebb1b4085a62; version approved-static-c751ebb1b4085a62]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/hamilton/ Retrieved 2026-09-14. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_hamilton-new-zealand-salary-cost-of-living-jobs-climate_c6ca12b959aa,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Hamilton, New Zealand: salary, cost of living, jobs, climate},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-09-14},
  version = {approved-static-c751ebb1b4085a62},
  snapshot = {approved-static-c751ebb1b4085a62},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/hamilton/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-09-14. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Hamilton, New Zealand: salary, cost of living, jobs, climate](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/hamilton/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; snapshot approved-static-c751ebb1b4085a62; version approved-static-c751ebb1b4085a62; retrieved 2026-09-14; built 2026-09-14.

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

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
OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03
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 tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz · checked 2026-08-03
Stats NZ / Tatauranga Aotearoa tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz · checked 2026-08-30
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
Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/nz/hamilton/ Numbeo city cost-of-living page · de.numbeo.com · checked 2026-09-05

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.