Living in Wānaka

In Wānaka, unemployment is 1.2% (2023).

Wanaka, a city in New Zealand, had a population of 11,922 in March 2023. The city covers 28.61 km², with a population density of 459.3 people per km² in March 2023.

Last checked 2026-10-0711 sources

Population11,922people7 Mar 2023Official source · Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population

Median gross salary (region)3,004EUR/month30 Jun 2025Official source · Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter

Median rent1,754EUR/month31 Jul 2026District figureOfficial source · Rental bond data — monthly by territorial authority

Unemployment rate1.2%country median 3.3% — 64% belowOfficial source · tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz

Recorded crime4,113incidents per 100,00030 Jun 2026District figureOfficial source · Victimisations Time and Place — Map export, July 2025 to June 2026

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

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 Wānaka.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 broadband³Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	37.06 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	One NZ Endless Plus³Official · national market
Median monthly rent	1,754 EUR/month	31 Jul 2026	Rental bond data — monthly by territorial authority⁵Official · county

Is Wānaka 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 air quality · range 31–53%

Skilled employee53%strong on work, weak on education · range 43–63%

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

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

Retirement28%strong on safety, weak on admin · range 14–42%

Work and income

What is the unemployment rate in Wanaka?

The unemployment rate is 1.2 % (2023 Census). Source: tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz¹⁰

Unemployment across cities in New ZealandUnemployment in Wānaka is 1.2%. Of 91 cities with data, 42 have unemployment of 2 to under 4%.

0–22–44–66–88–1014–16

Wānaka 1.2%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Median gross salary (regional)	3,004 EUR/month	30 Jun 2025	Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter⁹Official · regional context
Unemployment rate	1.2 %country median 3.3%	31 Dec 2023	tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz¹⁰Official

What does a salary buy in Wānaka?

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

Left over each month€604of €2,430 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.	€2,430
Rentmedian rent of a whole dwelling · official · Rental bond data · 2026-07-31	− €1,754
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	€604

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

Public employment service

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

Safety

How safe is Wanaka?

Police recorded about 4,113 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 2026¹¹

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	4,113 incidents per 100,000	30 Jun 2026	Victimisations Time and Place — Map export, July 2025 to June 2026¹¹Official · county

Mobility and administration

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Nearest airport	WKA	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁴Official
Distance to nearest airport	8 km	3 Aug 2026	OurAirports⁴Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Wānaka. 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 Wānaka.

Find courses near Wānaka

Climate and air quality

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Monthly extreme high temperature	Jan 27.28 · Feb 25.33 · Mar 22.43 · Apr 18.85 · May 15.17 · Jun 11.56 · Jul 9.05 · Aug 12.77 · Sep 14.66 · Oct 19.96 · Nov 22.85 · Dec 23.82 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹Official
Monthly extreme low temperature	Jan -1.03 · Feb -1.19 · Mar -2.86 · Apr -4.88 · May -5.25 · Jun -11.3 · Jul -10.04 · Aug -13.36 · Sep -5.03 · Oct -4.87 · Nov -4.73 · Dec -2.2 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹Official
Average temperature by month	Jan 11.66 · Feb 11.67 · Mar 9.78 · Apr 6.69 · May 3.74 · Jun 1.03 · Jul 0.3 · Aug 1.79 · Sep 3.73 · Oct 5.48 · Nov 7.97 · Dec 10.38 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹Official

Population and city profile

How many people live in Wanaka?

The published population was 11,922 people in March 2023. Source: Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population⁸

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport69.3%
Foreign residents30.7%

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

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	28.61 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 residents	3,663 people	31 Dec 2023	tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz¹⁰Official
Population density	459.3 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.⁶Official
Population	11,922 people	7 Mar 2023	Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population⁸Official

International community in Wānaka

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	1,281	10.8%
Australia	591	5.0%
Asia	540	4.6%
Europe (excl United Kingdom and Ireland)	468	4.0%
North America	360	3.0%
Other	228	1.9%
Middle East and Africa	165	1.4%
Pacific Islands	30	0.3%

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	9,420	79.0%
Other European	1,434	12.0%
Māori	705	5.9%
Latin American	234	2.0%
European nfd	219	1.8%
Southeast Asian	198	1.7%
Other Asian	177	1.5%
Chinese	138	1.2%
Indian	132	1.1%
Other Ethnicity	126	1.1%

Show 10 more groups

Published group	People	Share
Samoan	48	0.4%
Middle Eastern	33	0.3%
African	27	0.2%
Cook Islands Maori	24	0.2%
Asian nfd	24	0.2%
Tongan	21	0.2%
Fijian	9	0.1%
Other Pacific Peoples	9	0.1%
Pacific Peoples nfd	3	0.0%
Niuean	3	0.0%

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
European	10,893	91.4%
Māori	705	5.9%
Asian	666	5.6%
Middle Eastern/Latin American/African	291	2.4%
Other Ethnicity	126	1.1%
Pacific Peoples	111	0.9%

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

Alternatives for people set on Wānaka

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 Wānaka alternative in the same country

A move, not a commute, at 1089 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 11,922 Wānaka+352%
Median gross pay, region: €3,245 (2024) Whangārei vs €3,004 (2025) Wānakano percentage
Nearest airport: 6.0 km Whangārei vs 8.0 km Wānaka−25%

Full comparison More about Whangārei

Alternative cities in New Zealand

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

All New Zealand cities

Waikanae12,966 residents Kaiapoi13,017 residents Te Awamutu13,380 residents Lincoln10,611 residents Oamaru13,680 residents Hāwera10,365 residents

How does Wānaka compare?

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

Open the full comparison

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Wānaka 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 Wanaka?

The published population was 11,922 people in March 2023. Source: Stats NZ Urban Rural 2023 place summaries — Census population.

How safe is Wanaka?

What is the unemployment rate in Wanaka?

The unemployment rate is 1.2 % (2023 Census). Source: tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz.

What is the typical salary around Wānaka?

The median gross salary is 3,004 EUR/month. Source: Table 18: LEED measures, by industry (based on ANZSIC06) and region, June 2025 quarter.

How many foreign residents live in Wānaka?

3,663 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz.

Is Wānaka a good place to live?

Wānaka 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 United Kingdom and Ireland live in Wānaka?

The official country of birth distribution records 1,281 people (10.8%) 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). Wānaka, New Zealand: population, rent, salary, jobs, safety [ImmigrationDB compilation; version b317a2c96fdc5c72ef5dd403f02b6c57]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/wanaka/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_wanaka-new-zealand-population-rent-salary-jobs-safety_5d2c67f8ea04,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Wānaka, New Zealand: population, rent, salary, jobs, safety},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {b317a2c96fdc5c72ef5dd403f02b6c57},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/wanaka/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Wānaka, New Zealand: population, rent, salary, jobs, safety](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/nz/wanaka/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version b317a2c96fdc5c72ef5dd403f02b6c57; 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

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
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
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
tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz tools.summaries.stats.govt.nz · checked 2026-08-27

Show 1 more source

Victimisations Time and Place — Map export, July 2025 to June 2026 Victimisations Time and Place · public.tableau.com · checked 2026-10-05

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.