Dunedin take a bow — the city has topped a quality of life poll for the second year in a row.

The survey of seven New Zealand centres found 83% of participants from Ōtepoti Dunedin rated their overall quality of life highly.

That placed the city above the likes of Wellington, Tauranga and Hamilton — with Auckland languishing in seventh place in the 2026 Rangahau te Korou o te Ora/Quality of Life Survey.

Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker described the results as “hugely satisfying”.

“We are incredibly lucky to have such an amazing mix of history, culture, urban vibrancy, world-class scenery and wildlife right on our doorstep in Ōtepoti Dunedin.

“It’s also really pleasing to see most people are happy in their local areas — the suburbs they call home within Dunedin — and that the vast majority of people feel safe in our CBD during the day.’’

She noted the results highlighted some less than positive areas the city needed to work on such as traffic congestion, rubbish and litter.

Key findings:

  • 83% of Dunedin participants rated their overall quality of life as positive.

  • Almost half of respondents (49%) said quality of life has stayed the same compared to the previous 12 months, compared to 24% who found it has increased and 27% who found it has decreased.

  • 62% report their local area has a positive look and feel.

  • 90% find that green and open spaces are easy to get to, and 84% agree that these spaces support their wellbeing.

The main problems for residents include traffic congestion (62%), rubbish and litter (76%), dangerous driving (74%), vandalism (64%), and theft and burglary (54%), but 92% of people feel safe in city centre during the day.

The survey sampled the views of 579 people from Dunedin, among 5725 people from all participating centres also including Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Porirua and Hutt City.

— Allied Media