Thornton, Bay of Plenty
Thornton is a settlement in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. Thornton is located west of Whakatāne, and is on the true right of the Rangitaiki River.
In 1911 the Rangitaiki River was put into a straight channel at the current site of Thornton, which enabled draining the Rangitaiki Plains and converting this swamp land into dairy country.
Demographics
Thornton covers. It is partly in the Matatā-Otakiri and partly in the Thornton-Awakeri statistical areas.Thornton had a population of 606 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 78 people since the 2018 census, and an increase of 126 people since the 2013 census. There were 303 males and 303 females in 204 dwellings. 1.0% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. There were 111 people aged under 15 years, 93 aged 15 to 29, 273 aged 30 to 64, and 123 aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 86.1% European ; 24.3% Māori; 1.0% Pasifika; 1.5% Asian; 0.5% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders ; and 1.5% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 98.0%, Māori by 7.9%, and other languages by 3.0%. No language could be spoken by 1.5%. The percentage of people born overseas was 8.9, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 28.7% Christian, 0.5% Islam, 2.0% Māori religious beliefs, 0.5% New Age, and 0.5% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 58.4%, and 9.9% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 69 people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 300 had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 129 people exclusively held high school qualifications. 63 people earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 243 full-time, 87 part-time, and 6 unemployed.