Elsdon is a suburb of the New Zealand city of

Porirua Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...

located immediately to the west to of the city's CBD. The area was named after

Elsdon Best Elsdon Best (30 June 1856 – 9 September 1931) was an ethnographer who made important contributions to the study of the Māori of New Zealand. Early years Elsdon Best was born 30 June 1856 at Tawa Flat, New Zealand, to William Best and the fo ...

, a historian who studied archaeological sites in the area. Its industrial area, the largest in the city, is known for housing the factory used by New Zealand chocolate company Whittaker's; constructed in 1969, it remains the company's sole production site to this day.

Demographics

Elsdon is combined with the neighbouring suburb of Takapūwāhia for statistical purposes. The Elsdon-Takapuwahia statistical area covers and also includes the large rural area of Colonial Knob to the west. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Elsdon-Takapuwahia had a population of 2,418 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 261 people (12.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 201 people (9.1%) since the 2006 census. There were 696 households, comprising 1,194 males and 1,224 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female. The median age was 31.1 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 603 people (24.9%) aged under 15 years, 582 (24.1%) aged 15 to 29, 996 (41.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 240 (9.9%) aged 65 or older. The percentage of people born overseas was 18.5, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 41.7% had no religion, 44.3% 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 ...

, 2.2% 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 ...

, 1.9% were

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 0.5% were

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 0.6% 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 1.7% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 267 (14.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 399 (22.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $25,700, compared with $31,800 nationally. 153 people (8.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 849 (46.8%) people were employed full-time, 243 (13.4%) were part-time, and 135 (7.4%) were unemployed. The census revealed numerous trends in the area that differ from New Zealand as a whole. Ethnically, the statistical area was 52.9%

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 ...

, 47.8% 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 ...

, 28.7% Pasifika, 10% Asian, 0.7% MELAA, and 0.6% other. Meanwhile, New Zealand in its entirety is 70.2% European and only 16.5% Māori. Other differences include a larger Christian population (44.3% in the area compared to 36.5% nationally) and lower median income ($25,700 in the area compared to $31,800 nationally).

Education

Porirua School, a co-educational state primary school for Years 1 to 6, is located in Elsdon. The roll was as of OneSchool Global, a co-educational private composite school for Years 1 to 13 with numerous international sites, has a campus in the suburb. High school students living in Elsdon are zoned for the state secondary school Mana College in Takapūwāhia.

References

{{coord, 41, 08, S, 174, 50, E, display=title, region:NZ_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Suburbs of Porirua