Otūmoetai

Otūmoetai
Suburb
Country	New Zealand
City	Tauranga
Electoral ward	Otumoetai/Pyes Pa
Population  (2018)
• Total	8,034

Matua	(Tauranga Harbour)
Bellevue	Otūmoetai	Tauranga Central
	Brookfield	(Waikareao Estuary)

Otūmoetai is a suburb of the city of Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand.

The Otūmoetai peninsula includes both the Otūmoetai suburb, and the neighbouring suburbs of Matua and Bellevue.

History

Ōtūmoetai Pā, Tauranga, 1842–1843. George Augustus Bennett, RE

The name is claimed to translate to "Peaceful Waters" from Maori to English, as the Matua Saltmarsh and Tauranga Harbour borders Otūmoetai. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place where the tide stands still as if asleep" for Ōtǖmoetai.

Before the 1950s Otūmoetai was largely orchards and farms but then houses started to be built in Brookfield, Otūmoetai Central and Pillans Point. Following this the suburb started to take shape and in the 1990s the last pieces of land left in the suburb were developed into housing.

In the 21st century, the suburb has gone through intensification with the building of apartments.

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2006	7,086	—
2013	7,155	+0.14%
2018	8,034	+2.34%
Source:

Otūmoetai, comprising the statistical areas of Otūmoetai North and Otūmoetai South, had a population of 8,034 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 879 people (12.3%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 948 people (13.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 3,252 households. There were 3,789 males and 4,245 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.89 males per female, with 1,551 people (19.3%) aged under 15 years, 1,146 (14.3%) aged 15 to 29, 3,516 (43.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,824 (22.7%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 88.5% European/Pākehā, 11.6% Māori, 1.5% Pacific peoples, 6.6% Asian, and 2.2% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).

The proportion of people born overseas was 20.1%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 52.5% had no religion, 37.1% were Christian, 0.8% were Hindu, 0.3% were Muslim, 0.6% were Buddhist and 2.8% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 1,503 (23.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 966 (14.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 3,030 (46.7%) people were employed full-time, 1,041 (16.1%) were part-time, and 177 (2.7%) were unemployed.

Individual statistical areas

Name	Population	Median age	Median income
Otūmoetai North	4,248	46.4 years	$33,100
Otūmoetai South	3,786	41.4 years	$36,000
New Zealand		37.4 years	$31,800

Education

Otūmoetai has two co-educational state primary schools for Year 1 to 6 students: Ōtūmoetai Primary School, with a roll of 570, and Pillans Point School, with a roll of 517.

Otumoetai College and Otumoetai Intermediate are located in neighbouring Bellevue.