Living in Dargaville: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 2,889 live property titles in Dargaville, Kaipara District are almost all freehold (95%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 113 (3.9%), well below the national share of 8.7%.
- Cross-lease titles
- 113
- Share of live titles
- 3.9%
- Live titles in total
- 2,889
- Kaipara District share
- 1.0%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Kaipara District
- 1 of 1
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 544 of 644
Dargaville at a glance
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Dargaville is listed under Kaipara District.
- 2,889 live titles are recorded here, including 113 cross-lease titles (3.9%).
- The page includes 2023 Census context for the statistical area that represents this suburb.
- The page includes MBIE new-tenancy rent figures for April–June 2026.
Contextual observations
- Cross-lease titles make up 3.9% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- Unit titles account for 0.4% of recorded titles, so title structure can vary within the suburb.
- Coast distance is a suburb-level map measure, not a flood or hazard assessment.
Questions worth investigating
- For any cross-lease property you consider, do the current title, flats plan and lease match what is built today?
- What do the LIM, council property file and a suitable inspection add for the specific address?
No data held for this suburb
- Mapped public-transport context is not available for this suburb.
Title mix in Dargaville
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 2,742 | 94.9% |
| Cross lease | 113 | 3.9% |
| Unit title | 13 | 0.4% |
| Leasehold | 8 | 0.3% |
| Other record types | 13 | 0.4% |
| Total | 2,889 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Dargaville compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Dargaville is well below the national share (8.7%).
Across Kaipara District as a whole, the share is 1.0%; Dargaville is about 3.9 times the overall Kaipara District share (1.0%).
How cross-leases in Dargaville are set up
Carports appear in fewer leases (6% of schemes, against 13% nationally).
Fewer leases include a garage (13% of schemes, against 28% nationally).
Fewer schemes refer to more than one flats plan (21%, against 36% nationally), usually because a plan was redrawn.
| Scheme structure | Dargaville | Kaipara District | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 48 | 69 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 75.0% | 71.0% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 14.6% | 13.0% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 10.4% | 15.9% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 912 m² | 954 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 410 m² | 424 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 12.5% | 11.6% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 6.2% | 4.3% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 0.0% | 2.9% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 20.8% | 20.3% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1986 | 1989 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 30 | 42 | 54,978 |
Unit titles and leasehold in Dargaville
Unit titles are 0.4% of Dargaville's titles, well below New Zealand (7.5%). They belong to 5 developments, each run by a body corporate; half have 3 units or fewer.
New titles in Dargaville since 2020
126 of Dargaville's current titles (4%) were first issued since 2020, well below Kaipara District's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (10%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 121 | 58 |
| Unit title | 0 | 0 |
| Cross-lease | 0 | 0 |
| Leasehold | 5 | 1 |
| Other | 0 | 0 |
New titles include cross-leases converted to freehold and titles re-issued; they are not a count of new homes. Sources and limits
The lie of the land in Dargaville
The typical building in Dargaville stands on ground sloping 1.6° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated).
Much of the land is low-lying: the median elevation is 5 m, and parts are below sea level.
Slope is not a measure of ground stability. Sources and limits
Distance to the coast from Dargaville
Dargaville is inland: the typical title is 10 km from the sea or harbour edge, and fewer than 1 in 2,000 titles are within 1 km of it.
Measured in a straight line from the centre of each title's land to the coastline on LINZ's 1:50k topographic map, which follows harbours and estuaries as well as the open coast; lakes and rivers are not included. Distance says nothing about beach access, views or exposure to coastal hazards; council hazard maps and the LIM describe those.
Who lives around Dargaville: 2023 Census
About 90% of Dargaville's titles are in the census area Dargaville (a Stats NZ statistical area), so these figures describe that area, not Dargaville exactly.
Fewer workers work from home in Dargaville than across Kaipara District: 8.9% against 27.9%.
More workers walk or cycle to work in Dargaville than across Kaipara District: 7.9% against 3.3%.
More households have no car in Dargaville than across Kaipara District: 8.7% against 3.7%.
| Measure | Dargaville | Kaipara District whole council |
|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 5,016 | 25,899 |
| Change since 2018 | +3.9% | +13.2% |
| Change since 2013 | +17.1% | +36.6% |
| Median age | 43.4 | 46.8 |
| Households | 1,923 | 10,014 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 65.4% | 74.4% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 34.5% | 25.6% |
| Median household income | $54,400 | $65,800 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $332 | $350 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 8.8% | 23.2% |
| Ages | ||
| Under 15 | 19.1% | 18.3% |
| 15 to 29 | 15.8% | 13.4% |
| 30 to 64 | 39.1% | 43.9% |
| 65 and over | 26.1% | 24.4% |
| Where people came from | ||
| Born overseas | 14.5% | 15.8% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 21.5% | 16.0% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 46.8% | 48.7% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 3.2% | 3.2% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 18.3% | 16.7% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | ||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 9.9% | 15.4% |
| Employed full-time | 39.1% | 42.3% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 3.7% | 2.6% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 31.9% | 43.8% |
| Median personal income | $29,100 | $31,600 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | ||
| Work from home | 8.9% | 27.9% |
| Car, truck or van | 82.4% | 67.1% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Walk or cycle | 7.9% | 3.3% |
| Households and families | ||
| One-person households | 33.3% | 27.5% |
| Average people per household | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 8.7% | 3.7% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 8.0% | 4.9% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 32.9% | 34.0% |
| Couples without children | 43.2% | 50.9% |
| One-parent families | 23.9% | 15.0% |
| Homes | ||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 84.2% | 91.4% |
| Average bedrooms | 3 | 3.1 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 56.9% | 46.0% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 23.6% | 20.7% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 19.8% | 16.2% |
Rents around Dargaville
New tenancies in Dargaville in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $505 a week (up 18.8% on a year earlier). That is slightly below the national median ($600).
| April–June 2026 | Dargaville | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $505 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $430–$560 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | +18.8% | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 42 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Dargaville
LINZ maps 5 school sites inside Dargaville, among them Dargaville High School (Secondary (Year 9-15)) and Dargaville Intermediate (Intermediate).
- Dargaville High School (Secondary (Year 9-15))
- Dargaville Intermediate (Intermediate)
- Dargaville Primary School (Contributing)
- Selwyn Park School (Contributing)
- St Joseph's Catholic School (Dargaville) (Full Primary)
- Nearest school: St Joseph's Catholic School (Dargaville) (4.3 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Dargaville High School (4.7 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Dargaville Hospital (5.5 km)
School enrolment zones in Dargaville: a guide
The largest primary-school zone share of Dargaville's titles is in Dargaville Primary School's home zone (about 65%).
- Dargaville Primary School (primary): about 65% of titles
About 35% of Dargaville's titles are outside every mapped home zone.
A guide only: check the school's own zone map for any address. Zones as at 14 July 2026. Sources and limits
Places of worship near Dargaville
OpenStreetMap maps 11 places of worship inside Dargaville (8 Christian, 3 other or not recorded).
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: Riverside Christian Centre, 4.1 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Suburbs like Dargaville
The closest match on the measures on this site is Papamoa Beach in Tauranga City, nearest on elevation, land per flat, slope. Closeness is arithmetic, not a rating. Sources and limits
| Suburb | Council | Cross-lease share of titles | Median weekly rent, new tenancies | Median age | Closest on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Papamoa Beach | Tauranga City | 7.1% | No data | No data | elevation, land per flat, slope |
| Tikipunga | Whangarei District | 12.1% | $598 | 38 | slope, distance to a hospital, born overseas |
| Wanganui East | Whanganui District | 8.8% | $520 | 42.3 | stand-alone houses, commuting by public transport, elevation |
| Waiuku | Auckland | 8.6% | $615 | 42.5 | schools, unit-title share, slope |
| Tawhero | Whanganui District | 9.3% | $570 | 38.1 | schools, home ownership, recent movers within NZ |
Questions
What is the rent in Dargaville?
New tenancies in the Dargaville rent area had a median rent of $505 a week in the April–June 2026 quarter (MBIE bond data, all dwelling types). These are rents agreed for new tenancies, not asking rents. The middle half of those rents ran from $430 to $560.
What schools are in Dargaville?
LINZ maps 5 school sites inside Dargaville, including Dargaville High School, Dargaville Intermediate and Dargaville Primary School. The nearest secondary school to its centre is Dargaville High School (4.7 km in a straight line). Being near a school does not mean being in its zone.