Cust is a rural village in the
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
of New Zealand. It is located in North Canterbury and comes under seat of the
Waimakariri District
Waimakariri District is a local government district, located in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. It is named after the Waimakariri River, which forms the district's southern boundary, separating it from Christchurch City a ...
Council. It is located approximately 16 km east of
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and 17 km west of
Rangiora
Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury Region, Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the ...
. The town is named after
Sir Edward Cust, who was a member of the
Canterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament, Peerage of the United Kingdom, peers, and Anglicanism, Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The se ...
which organised European settlement of the area around 1850. Earlier names for the town were Moeraki Downs and Middleton-on-the-Cust.
Education
Cust School is Cust's only school. It is a state co-educational full primary school with a
decile rating of 10 and a roll of students (as of The principal is Gerhard Potgieter.
Demographics
Cust is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers .
It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2. Cust is part of the larger Starvation Hill-Cust statistical area.
Before the 2023 census, the settlement had a larger boundary, covering .
Using that boundary, Cust had a population of 390 at the
2018 New Zealand census
The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census.
Resu ...
, an increase of 27 people (7.4%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 36 people (10.2%) since the
2006 census. There were 144 households, comprising 192 males and 195 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female, with 78 people (20.0%) aged under 15 years, 42 (10.8%) aged 15 to 29, 177 (45.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 90 (23.1%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 97.7% European/
Pākehā
''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
, 3.8%
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, 1.5%
Pasifika, 0.0%
Asian, and 1.5% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 53.8% had no religion, 30.0% were
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 1.5% were
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and 1.5% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 60 (19.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 48 (15.4%) people had no formal qualifications. 66 people (21.2%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 147 (47.1%) people were employed full-time, 48 (15.4%) were part-time, and 0 (0.0%) were unemployed.
Starvation Hill-Cust statistical area
Starvation Hill-Cust statistical area covers .
It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km
2.

Starvation Hill-Cust had a population of 2,217 at the
2018 New Zealand census
The 2018 New Zealand census, which took place on Tuesday 6 March 2018, was the thirty-fourth national census in New Zealand. The population of New Zealand was counted as 4,699,755 – an increase of 457,707 (10.79%) over the 2013 census.
Resu ...
, an increase of 267 people (13.7%) since the
2013 census, and an increase of 828 people (59.6%) since the
2006 census. There were 798 households, comprising 1,092 males and 1,125 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female. The median age was 46.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 462 people (20.8%) aged under 15 years, 270 (12.2%) aged 15 to 29, 1,095 (49.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 393 (17.7%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 95.3% European/
Pākehā
''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...
, 4.6%
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, 0.3%
Pasifika, 1.5%
Asian, and 2.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
The percentage of people born overseas was 19.9, compared with 27.1% nationally.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 55.5% had no religion, 34.5% were
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, 0.1% had
Māori religious beliefs
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
, 0.4% were
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and 1.5% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 360 (20.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 267 (15.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $36,700, compared with $31,800 nationally. 402 people (22.9%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 909 (51.8%) people were employed full-time, 315 (17.9%) were part-time, and 27 (1.5%) were unemployed.
Motorcycle racing
For more than 20 years, a metalled-road racing circuit at Cust was used as the venue for the New Zealand Grand Prix for motorcycling. The Easter event, last held in 1963, would swell the village population to 25,000.
Climate
The average temperature in
summer
Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...
is 16.2 °C, and in
winter
Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...
is 5.9 °C.
References
External links
Cust village websiteCust SchoolCust Volunteer Fire Brigade
{{Waimakariri District, New Zealand
Waimakariri District
Populated places in the Canterbury Region