2018 Census Place Summaries
A platform that brings 2018 Census data to life — letting anyone explore the people, places, and communities of Aotearoa, from national figures down to the small areas where people live, work, and play.
The Challenge
Every five years, the New Zealand Census produces one of the richest public datasets in the country — a detailed picture of who lives here, where, and how. Historically, that data lived in spreadsheets, technical releases, and downloadable tables, accessible mainly to researchers, analysts, and policy teams.
For the 2018 release, Stats NZ wanted to change that. The goal was to put Census data directly in the hands of councils, community organisations, journalists, businesses, students, and curious members of the public — and to do it through an experience that didn't assume any prior knowledge of statistics or geography.
Our Response
We partnered with Stats NZ on the redevelopment of the Place Summaries tool — a web platform that turns the 2018 Census into an explorable, place-based experience.
The tool exposes 26 topics across seven themes — population and dwellings, housing, transport, work, income, education, culture and identity — and lets users navigate New Zealand at every geographic level the Census operates at: national, regional council, territorial authority, Auckland local boards, and SA2 small areas.
Users can drop into any place — their suburb, their council area, their region — and instantly see how it compares with the area above it in the hierarchy. The interaction is designed for browsing as much as for querying: pick a place, pick a topic, and the story is right there.
The Outcome
Released alongside the 2018 Census, Place Summaries became the public-facing front door to New Zealand's national dataset — used by councils, government agencies, journalists, researchers, community groups, and the general public to understand the communities they live and work in.
The tool turned what had historically been a release of spreadsheets into a destination experience, and made the underlying data accessible to audiences who would never have downloaded a CSV.
Gallery
2018 Census Place Summaries — Census Data
2018 Census Place Summaries — Census Data
2018 Census Place Summaries — Census Data
The Conclusion
Place Summaries is an example of what happens when public data is treated as a product, not a release — designed for the people it serves, not just the analysts who produce it. The result is a piece of public infrastructure that gives every New Zealander a way to understand their own community.