Hamilton City

Hamilton cops more jokes than it deserves, mostly from people who haven’t been in a decade. The river city’s grown up: the Waikato runs right through the middle, the Hamilton Gardens are genuinely world-class, and the place is booming as families and businesses spill south out of Auckland.

It’s flat, central and easy to get around, with a university keeping it lively and a dairy hinterland keeping it grounded. The suburbs run from the older riverside streets to the leafy established areas to the fast-growing edges, and prices sit well under Auckland’s while the city’s only an hour and a bit up the road.

There are 80 suburbs across the city. This page puts them together so you can compare without guessing: who lives where, what you’ll pay, how the schools rate, and which streets sit closest to the river, the centre or the work.

Better than its reputation, and growing fast. Have a browse and see where you’d settle.