2023 Census Hamilton. Age changes in SA2 areas, from Census 2001-2023 figures

The youngest SA2 neighbourhood is the rural area of Ruakura. At 20.3 years, the age average comes from a count of about a thousand people, many of whom would likely be residents on the university campus. The oldest 2023 census statistical area two (SA2) is Te Rapa South, with a median age of 77.7 years, derived from a small count of a few hundred people who live in large retirement villages at the southern edge of Te Rapa race course.

There are a number of neighbourhoods in Hamilton that are forever young, these being the three university student areas of Greensboro, Hillcrest East, and Hillcrest West, and the young family-friendly neighbourhoods of Bader, Crawshaw and Fairfield North. These established neighbourhoods have retained the youngest rankings in each census count at SA2 data level for the whole of this century.

The established neighbourhood of Riverlea in the south of Hamilton has maintained a stable number of older residents since 2001. The other SA2 neighbourhoods with older average populations are Huntington, Rototuna South West, and Flagstaff East, in the sprawl north-east of Hamilton.

An area that has fluctuated in the age rankings is Flagstaff South, which had an aged population at the start of the century, was then near average in the 2013 census, and is now a place where either older people are staying or younger ones are leaving.

In this post I have tried to look back to the turn of the century. The challenge is that boundaries and area names have been changing. The data for the last three censuses (2013-2018-2023) are reliable at the SA2 level. My attempt to include the two earlier censuses (2001-2006) is not reliable. These counts were included to see if they highlighted changes that need a closer look/check.

Earlier posts on Age - Hamilton Area units by Age Oct 2014, Hamilton where different age groups live Oct 2019

Posts on 2023 Census - median incomes