Otamatea

Otamatea is a residential suburb of Whanganui, New Zealand. Otamatea is under the local governance of the Whanganui District Council.

Otamatea is located on the northwestern edge of the Whanganui urban area, straddling State Highway 3 for approximately 3 km north of Virginia Lake.

Demographics
Otamatea covers 2.70 km2 and had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Before the 2023 census, the suburb had a smaller boundary, covering 2.23 km2. Using that boundary, Otamatea had a population of 1,731 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 168 people (10.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 414 people (31.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 687 households, comprising 837 males and 897 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.93 males per female. The median age was 55.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 225 people (13.0%) aged under 15 years, 192 (11.1%) aged 15 to 29, 678 (39.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 639 (36.9%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 89.3% European/Pākehā, 7.1% Māori, 0.9% Pacific peoples, 7.1% Asian, and 1.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 18.7, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 38.0% had no religion, 50.3% were Christian, 2.1% were Hindu, 1.4% were Muslim, 0.5% were Buddhist and 1.0% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 315 (20.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 276 (18.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $29,900, compared with $31,800 nationally. 285 people (18.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 567 (37.6%) people were employed full-time, 210 (13.9%) were part-time, and 36 (2.4%) were unemployed.