Otūmoetai

Otūmoetai is a suburb 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

The name is claimed to translate to "Peaceful Waters" from Māori 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 Ōtūmoetai.
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

Otūmoetai covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km².
Otūmoetai had a population of 8,334 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 300 people since the 2018 census, and an increase of 1,179 people since the 2013 census. There were 4,026 males, 4,287 females, and 24 people of other genders in 3,282 dwellings. 2.6% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 42.9 years. There were 1,584 people aged under 15 years, 1,218 aged 15 to 29, 3,756 aged 30 to 64, and 1,779 aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 87.1% European ; 12.9% Māori; 2.2% Pasifika; 7.5% Asian; 1.4% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders ; and 2.6% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.2%, Māori by 2.4%, Samoan by 0.3%, and other languages by 9.7%. No language could be spoken by 1.7%. New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.5%. The percentage of people born overseas was 22.5, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 30.8% Christian, 1.2% Hindu, 0.3% Islam, 0.5% Māori religious beliefs, 0.5% Buddhist, 0.3% New Age, 0.1% Jewish, and 2.0% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 57.5%, and 6.9% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 1,794 people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 3,609 had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 1,356 people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $44,500, compared with $41,500 nationally. 939 people earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 3,279 full-time, 1,089 part-time, and 132 unemployed.

Name	Area	Population	Density	Dwellings	Median age	Median income
Otūmoetai North	0.95	2,223	2,340	942	45.6 years	$42,400
Otūmoetai East	1.42	3,699	2,605	1,452	42.2 years	$44,600
Otūmoetai South	0.95	2,415	2,415	885	42.0 years	$46,400
New Zealand					38.1 years	$41,500

Education

Otūmoetai has two co-educational state primary schools for Year 1 to 6 students: Ōtūmoetai Primary School, with a roll of and Pillans Point School, with a roll of Ōtūmoetai Primary was established in 1895, and Pillans Point opened in 1957.
Ōtūmoetai College and Ōtūmoetai Intermediate are located in neighbouring Bellevue.