Living in Hastings

In Hastings, unemployment is 4.1% (2023).

Hastings is a city in New Zealand, with a population of 47,682 in March 2023. The city covers 26.29 km², with a population density of 1,900.7 people per km² in March 2023.

Last checked 2026-10-0916 sources

Population47,682people7 Mar 2023Official source · Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population

Median gross salary (region)2,974EUR/month30 Jun 2025Official source · Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter

Median rent1,315EUR/month31 Jul 2026District figureOfficial source · Rental bond data — monthly by territorial authority

Unemployment rate4.1%country median 3.3% — 24% aboveOfficial source · Stats NZ

Recorded crime5,498incidents per 100,00030 Jun 2026District figureOfficial source · Victimisations Time and Place — Map export, July 2025 to June 2026

PM2.5, annual mean8.38µg/m³country median 9.3 — 10% belowOfficial source · LAWA Air Quality Dataset (2016–2025), daily PM2.5 observations

Higher unemployment than 67% of New Zealand cities that publish it and cleaner air than 73% of New Zealand cities that publish it.

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

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 Hastings.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	1,315 EUR/month	31 Jul 2026	Rental bond data — monthly by territorial authority⁸Official · county

Is Hastings 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 worker38%strong on work, weak on safety · range 28–48%

Skilled employee64%strong on work, weak on education · range 54–74%

Student37%strong on legal route, weak on education · range 25–49%

Family57%strong on family, weak on education · range 45–69%

Retirement32%strong on air quality, weak on admin · range 20–44%

Work and income

What is the unemployment rate in Hastings?

The unemployment rate is 4.1 % (2023). Source: Stats NZ¹⁰

Unemployment across cities in New ZealandUnemployment in Hastings is 4.1%. Of 91 cities with data, 42 have unemployment of 2 to under 4%.

0–22–44–66–88–1014–16

Hastings 4.1%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Median gross salary (regional)	2,974 EUR/month	30 Jun 2025	Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter¹³Official · regional context
Unemployment rate	4.1 %country median 3.3%	31 Dec 2023	Stats NZ¹⁰Official

What does a salary buy in Hastings?

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

Left over each month€1,023of €2,410 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.	€2,410
Rentmedian rent of a whole dwelling · official · Rental bond data · 2026-07-31	− €1,315
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	€1,023

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

Public employment service

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

Safety

How safe is Hastings?

Police recorded about 5,498 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	5,498 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	3 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights⁶Official
Nearest airport	NPE	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁷Official
Distance to nearest airport	19 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁷Official

Language courses and integration in Hastings

1 exact course-location record is linked to this city. Check the linked source for dates, availability and enrolment.

Verified locally

1verified local records

Hastings

View official record

Check courses in Hastings How the country programme works

Exact city-linked record checked 2026-08-10. Provider-supplied records are supplemental and are not presented as official accreditation.

Find courses near Hastings

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Hastings?

The annual PM2.5 mean is about 8.4 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: 8.38 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

PM2.58.4WHO 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 Hastings is 8.4 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

Hastings 8.4

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	8.38 µg/m³country median 9.3	31 Dec 2024	LAWA Air Quality Dataset (2016–2025), daily PM2.5 observations²Official
Monthly extreme high temperature	Jan 32.08 · Feb 34.89 · Mar 28.42 · Apr 26.56 · May 23.75 · Jun 20.25 · Jul 17.35 · Aug 19.28 · Sep 22.62 · Oct 26.33 · Nov 28.5 · Dec 29.13 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center³Official
Monthly extreme low temperature	Jan 8.31 · Feb 8.94 · Mar 7.23 · Apr 5.67 · May 3.36 · Jun 2.35 · Jul 1.77 · Aug 1.46 · Sep 2.4 · Oct 2.74 · Nov 4.98 · Dec 6.72 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center³Official
Average temperature by month	Jan 19.18 · Feb 19.15 · Mar 17.44 · Apr 14.85 · May 12.54 · Jun 10.26 · Jul 9.24 · Aug 9.74 · Sep 11.37 · Oct 13.17 · Nov 15.21 · Dec 17.49 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center³Official

Population and city profile

How many people live in Hastings?

The published population was 47,682 people in March 2023. Source: Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population¹²

Foreign residents and their share come from different publications that count different groups (for example citizens of another country, or people born abroad, or of foreign origin), so 16,398 is not 19.1% of the population. Each row names its source.

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport65.6%
Foreign residents34.4%

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

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	26.29 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-resident share	19.1 %	31 Dec 2023	Stats NZ¹⁰Official
Foreign residents	16,398 people	31 Dec 2023	Stats NZ¹⁰Official
Population density	1,901 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	47,682 people	7 Mar 2023	Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population¹²Official

International community in Hastings

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	3,615	7.7%
Pacific Islands	2,283	4.8%
United Kingdom and Ireland	1,311	2.8%
Australia	768	1.6%
Middle East and Africa	714	1.5%
Europe (excl United Kingdom and Ireland)	369	0.8%
North America	201	0.4%
Other	144	0.3%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹¹

Ancestry or ethnicity

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

Published group	People	Share
New Zealand European	26,052	54.6%
Māori	17,133	35.9%
Samoan	2,916	6.1%
Indian	2,793	5.9%
Other European	2,112	4.4%
Cook Islands Maori	2,100	4.4%
Southeast Asian	1,428	3.0%
Tongan	669	1.4%
Chinese	648	1.4%
Other Ethnicity	426	0.9%

Show 11 more groups

Published group	People	Share
Other Pacific Peoples	393	0.8%
Other Asian	276	0.6%
Fijian	195	0.4%
Latin American	171	0.4%
African	168	0.4%
European nfd	162	0.3%
Niuean	126	0.3%
Asian nfd	120	0.3%
Tokelauan	75	0.2%
Middle Eastern	45	0.1%
Pacific Peoples nfd	39	0.1%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹¹

Ancestry or ethnicity

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

Published group	People	Share
European	27,753	58.2%
Māori	17,133	35.9%
Pacific Peoples	6,111	12.8%
Asian	5,235	11.0%
Other Ethnicity	426	0.9%
Middle Eastern/Latin American/African	381	0.8%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹¹

Alternatives for people set on Hastings

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.

Napier as a Hastings alternative in the same region

15 km away, better on 1 of 4 metrics measured the same way, worse on 2. Median gross pay, region cannot be compared like for like.

Nearest airport: 5.0 km Napier vs 19.0 km Hastings−74%
Median gross pay, region: €3,347 (2024) Napier vs €2,974 (2025) Hastingsno percentage
Residents: 64,695 Napier vs 47,682 Hastings+36%
Unemployment: 4.3% Napier vs 4.1% Hastings+5%
Foreign residents: 17.9% Napier vs 19.1% Hastings−6%

Full comparison More about Napier

Nelson as a Hastings alternative in the same country

A move, not a commute, at 356 km, better on 2 of 2 metrics measured the same way, worse on 0. Median gross pay, region cannot be compared like for like.

Foreign residents: 26.4% Nelson vs 19.1% Hastings+38%
Median gross pay, region: €3,247 (2024) Nelson vs €2,974 (2025) Hastingsno percentage
Unemployment: 3.4% Nelson vs 4.1% Hastings−17%

Full comparison More about Nelson

Cities near Hastings

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

Onekawa 14.5 km away

Rent: 1,414 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2026-07-31

Napier 15.1 km away

Rent: 1,398 EUR/monthMedian monthly rent · 2026-07-31

Alternative cities in New Zealand

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

All New Zealand cities

Invercargill48,987 residents Gisborne52,700 residents Upper Hutt42,903 residents Whangārei53,841 residents Nelson54,300 residents Whanganui41,481 residents

How does Hastings compare?

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

Open the full comparison

Hastings in rankings

#6 of 12 in Cities with cleanest air in New Zealand #13 of 23 in Most international cities in New Zealand #17 of 27 in Cities with lowest unemployment in New Zealand #17 of 29 in Largest cities in New Zealand

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Hastings 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 Hastings?

The published population was 47,682 people in March 2023. Source: Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population.

Is the air quality good in Hastings?

The annual PM2.5 mean is about 8.4 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 Hastings?

What is the unemployment rate in Hastings?

The unemployment rate is 4.1 % (2023). Source: Stats NZ.

What is the typical salary around Hastings?

The median gross salary is 2,974 EUR/month. Source: Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter.

How many foreign residents live in Hastings?

16,398 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Stats NZ.

Is Hastings a good place to live?

Hastings 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 Hastings?

Havelock North, Onekawa, Napier are near Hastings. Typed relationship labels are shown where published; other rows use straight-line distance from admitted coordinates.

How many people born in Asia live in Hastings?

The official country of birth distribution records 3,615 people (7.7%) 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). Hastings, New Zealand: population, rent, salary, jobs [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 14603b04a34dcf70ed81f8b4000a0bba]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/hastings/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_hastings-new-zealand-population-rent-salary-jobs_069561b4a96e,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Hastings, New Zealand: population, rent, salary, jobs},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {14603b04a34dcf70ed81f8b4000a0bba},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/hastings/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Hastings, New Zealand: population, rent, salary, jobs](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/hastings/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 14603b04a34dcf70ed81f8b4000a0bba; 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 2026-10-07
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 tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz · checked 2026-08-03

Show 6 more sources

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
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
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

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