For the 2014 general election, New Zealand has been divided into 71 electorates: 16 in the South Island; 48 in the North Island; and 7 Maori electorates.
Each electorate has a population ranging from approximately 60,000 to 70,000, which is about the size of large town or small city.
The table below ranks the 23 most densely populated electorates. The 11 most densely populated electorates are in Auckland. We have Hamilton East as the 13th most densely populated electorate, lying between Ilam and Christchurch Central in size
Table by Peter H
Source: http://www.stats.govt.nz/StatsMaps/Home/Maps/2013-census-general-electorates.aspx
| Location | Population | Area km2 | Density | Median Income (*) | Median Age | |
| 1 | Pakuranga | 73,362 | 22.62 | 3,244 | $30,000 (22) | 39 |
| 2 | Mt Albert | 63,606 | 19.97 | 3,185 | $36,200 (4) | 34 |
| 3 | Epsom | 61,878 | 20.09 | 3,080 | $37,100 (3) | 38 |
| 4 | Mt Roskill | 61,401 | 21.20 | 2,896 | $27,100 (43) | 35 |
| 5 | Manukau East | 64,929 | 22.93 | 2,832 | $20,200 (63) | 30 |
| 6 | North Shore | 64,149 | 25.24 | 2,542 | $35,500 (13) | 40 |
| 7 | New Lynn | 61,266 | 24.13 | 2,539 | $25,700 (52) | 36 |
| 8 | Kelston | 63,096 | 25.27 | 2,497 | $26,500 (46) | 33 |
| 9 | Te Atatu | 67,890 | 28.81 | 2,356 | $26,300 (48) | 35 |
| 10 | Tamaki | 59,850 | 25.85 | 2,315 | $39,800 (2) | 39 |
| 11 | Northcote | 64,344 | 27.92 | 2,305 | $32,200 (14) | 36 |
| 12 | Ilam | 61,332 | 27.11 | 2,262 | $28,500 (33) | 39 |
| 13 | Hamilton East | 71,160 | 32.32 | 2,202 | $25,400 (53) | 32 |
| 14 | Manurewa | 72,615 | 34.11 | 2,129 | $23,200 (60) | 29 |
| 15 | Christchurch Central | 65,175 | 31.66 | 2,058 | $30,800 (18) | 36 |
| 16 | Maungakiekie | 67,581 | 34.60 | 1,953 | $31,400 (15) | 34 |
| 17 | Upper Harbour | 66,162 | 34.57 | 1,914 | $31,200 (16) | 34 |
| 18 | Botany | 63,540 | 34.74 | 1,829 | $29,100 (27) | 36 |
| 19 | Wigram | 60,207 | 34.49 | 1,746 | $27,100 (44) | 35 |
| 20 | Palmerston North | 66,555 | 46.01 | 1,447 | $26,200 (49) | 34 |
| 21 | East Coast Bays | 59,574 | 44.71 | 1,333 | $30,800 (19) | 38 |
| 22 | Mangere | 66,021 | 60.89 | 1,084 | $20,600 (62) | 28 |
| 23 | Hamilton West | 70,989 | 87.77 | 809 | $29,700 (25) | 32 |
| New Zealand | $28,500 | 38 |
(*) income ranking – the lower the number higher the income
Electorates with higher population densities tend to have a lower median age, Mangere being the youngest.
Coromandel and Otaki with population densities of 13 and 45 ppkm2 respectively both have a median income of $23,900 and the highest median age of 48 years.
I see no pattern in wealth.
Of the 64 General Electorate Seats, only 10 from the table above would be in the top 23 median income electorates. The highest and lowest median incomes are not represented in the table above.
Ohariu, with a population density of 519 ppkm2 and a median age of 38, has the highest median income of $42,400.
Dunedin North, with a population density of 29 ppkm2 and a median age of 30, has the lowest median income of $19,000.
Before we write off density, have a read of these two posts from Jarrett Walker at Human Transit Blog Can we make density make sense and The perils of average density – which is a review of Paul Mees’ book Transport for suburbia
At the core of Mees’s book, for example, is a table that compares the gross residential density of a bunch of urban areas with the transit performance in each area. The point of the table is to show that there’s really no relationship between the two