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A woman who only visited Dunedin once before deciding to move to the city says she cannot picture herself living anywhere else.
It was no surprise to Grace Esterman Dunedin was rated the happiest of seven New Zealand cities in the 2026 Quality of Life Survey Rangahau te Korou o te Ora, released on Wednesday.
Ms Esterman said she moved to Dunedin from Tauranga about three and a-half years ago after being offered a job at Startup Dunedin.
She had previously lived in Wellington for eight years.
“I gave myself six to 12 months to see if Dunedin stole my heart and a year later I was moving the dog down.”
She had visited Dunedin once on a van trip of the South Island about a year prior.
She had only known one person.
“My assumption was that it was going to be really cold and really miserable in winter.
“I was quietly surprised . . . I think winter is significantly better than it is in Wellington.”
Since moving down here, she had even persuaded at least six of her mates to come down, too.
“I love living here and I don’t see myself anywhere else, anytime soon.”
Dunedin was small enough to find your community quickly and the people were friendly, Ms Esterman said.
The lifestyle factor had been a big influence in her decision to stick around.
Blackhead beach and Frasers Gully were favourites of hers.
“I love Port Chalmers and a cheeky beer at the Carey’s Bay Hotel.”
Dogs were allowed most places and her 6-year-old Huntaway cross, Lou, also loved Dunedin.
“He’s quite well-known around the uni area because he wears little stripy, coloured outfits around.”
Of the 579 locals surveyed, 83% rated their overall quality of life in Dunedin positively.
Only 7% described their quality of life as “poor” or “very poor”, and 49% said their quality of life in Dunedin had stayed about the same compared to a year ago.
It is the second time in a row the city has topped the two-yearly survey, reporting the same level of overall quality of life in 2024.
Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker said she was “absolutely delighted” by the result.
“Dunedinites will know we have a wonderful life in the city, but it’s great to see some figures that actually confirm it,” Ms Barker said.
The survey’s overall report includes comments from Dunedin residents — positive and negative.
“It has become colder, windier and more difficult to grow my own food”, one person said.
Others said the city centre was much nicer with the George St changes finished, also highlighting new infrastructure in the CBD and the sporting success of the Highlanders.
“Locals feel happier.”
Main problems for Dunedin residents included traffic congestion (62%), rubbish and litter (76%), dangerous driving (74%), vandalism (64%) and theft and burglary (54%).
However, 92% of people said they felt safe in the city centre during the day.
Of those who said their quality of life had declined in Dunedin over the past year, 55% cited reduced financial wellbeing and 47% cited reduced healthcare and wellbeing.
A total of 5725 people were surveyed across the seven participating centres.
Wellington was second with 80% of residents rating their overall quality of life positively, followed by Tauranga (78%), Porirua (77%), Hamilton (75%), Auckland (74%) and Hutt City (73%).
The survey was conducted by Ipsos New Zealand.