Okuku is a small farming community located in

North Canterbury Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current fo ...

, New Zealand, lying 20 kilometres northwest of

Rangiora Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the 30th largest urba ...

. Okuku consists of a mix of flat and undulating farmland, and river beds that drain a catchment area in the foothills to the north. Okuku is bounded to the south by the Ashley River / Rakahuri (the major river in the area), to the east by the Okuku River, and to the west by the

Garry River The Garry River is a river in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. It arises in the Mount Thomas Forest near Mount Thomas and flows south-east into Ashley River / Rakahuri. Blowhard Stream is a tributary. See also *List of rivers of New Zealan ...

Mount Thomas Mount Thomas is the fictional town featured in the long-running Australian police procedural drama ''Blue Heelers'', which ran from 1994 up until its cancelation in 2006. The program was filmed in Victorian suburbs of Werribee, Williamstown ...

is the highest point at a height of 1023m.

Demographics

The Okuku statistical area, which also includes Glentui, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Okuku had a population of 726 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 78 people (12.0%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 231 people (46.7%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 258 households. There were 360 males and 363 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.99 males per female. The median age was 42.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 156 people (21.5%) aged under 15 years, 99 (13.6%) aged 15 to 29, 405 (55.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 66 (9.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 95.5% European/Pākehā, 3.3% Māori, 2.1% Pacific peoples, 0.8% Asian, and 2.1% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 16.9%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 61.2% had no religion, 28.1% were Christian and 1.2% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 99 (17.4%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 84 (14.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $39,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 339 (59.5%) people were employed full-time, 96 (16.8%) were part-time, and 18 (3.2%) were unemployed.

References

{{Waimakariri District Populated places in Canterbury, New Zealand Waimakariri District