Timaru Central

Suburb in Timaru, New Zealand

Timaru Central
Suburb
Stafford Street
Coordinates: 44°23′53″S 171°15′07″E / 44.398°S 171.252°E / -44.398; 171.252
Country	New Zealand
City	Timaru
Local authority	Timaru District Council
Electoral ward	Timaru
Area [1]
• Land	81 ha (200 acres)
Population  (June 2024)[2]
• Total	410

Waimataitai		Port Timaru
Seaview	Timaru Central
	Parkside

Timaru Central is the central business district of Timaru, in the South Canterbury area and Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island.

Timaru Central covers 0.81 km² (0.31 sq mi)^[1] and had an estimated population of 410 as of June 2024,^[2] with a population density of 506 people per km².

Before the 2023 census, Timaru Central had a larger boundary, covering 0.82 km² (0.32 sq mi).^[1] Using that boundary, Timaru Central had a population of 405 at the 2018 New Zealand census, a decrease of 21 people (−4.9%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 15 people (−3.6%) since the 2006 census. There were 171 households, comprising 210 males and 195 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.08 males per female. The median age was 37.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 45 people (11.1%) aged under 15 years, 114 (28.1%) aged 15 to 29, 198 (48.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 48 (11.9%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 77.0% European/Pākehā, 13.3% Māori, 8.1% Pasifika, 10.4% Asian, and 2.2% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 20.0, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 45.9% had no religion, 37.8% were Christian, 0.7% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.7% were Hindu, 0.7% were Muslim, 2.2% were Buddhist and 4.4% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 30 (8.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 93 (25.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $27,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. 24 people (6.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 198 (55.0%) people were employed full-time, 39 (10.8%) were part-time, and 18 (5.0%) were unemployed.^[3]

Sacred Heart School is a Catholic state-integrated primary school for years 1 to 10^[4] with a roll of 229 as of August 2024.^[5] It opened in 1882 as Marist Brothers School, and became Sacred Heart School in the 1980s after a merger with Sacred Heart Girls' School (established 1879).^[6][7]