AI Job Atlas
AI & jobs · Regional Council in New Zealand

Waikato

Regional Council NZ-WKO Largest city: Hamilton
35%
of jobs here are estimated to be exposed to generative AI, below the national 36% (−1.6 pts).
MODEL13th of 24 regions100K exposed workers

Key numbers

PopulationWIKIDATA
532K
as of 2025
Share of national populationWIKIDATA
10.0%
4th largest of 24
People in workMODEL
287K
national total × population share
Highest-exposure jobsMODEL
6.6%
national 7.0%
Area
24.2K km²
22 people per km²
Settlement patternMODEL
Rural
39% live in major cities
Largest city
Hamilton
148K (metro)
Mapped towns & cities
6
Natural Earth places

AI use

ANTHROPIC

Claude.ai conversations, April–May 2026.

Usage intensityANTHROPIC
0.41×
usage share ÷ population share
Share of national useANTHROPIC
4.1%
10.0% of population
Work-relatedANTHROPIC
45%
national 44%
Automation-styleANTHROPIC
47%
national 46%
Augmentation 53%Automation 47%

Sector mix

MODEL

Estimated share of jobs by sector, against the national mix.

Waikato New Zealand
Retail & wholesale 13.2%
Health & care 13.0%
Construction 10.7%
Education 10.2%
Business services 9.4%
Manufacturing 8.9%
Agriculture 8.8%
Other services 5.4%
Public admin 4.9%
Hospitality 4.9%
Transport & logistics 4.5%
ICT & software 2.6%
Finance 2.0%
Utilities 1.2%
Mining 0.3%

Exposed workers by sector

MODEL
Health & care 16.5K Education 14K Retail & wholesale 13.9K Business services 12.4K Public admin 7,184 Manufacturing 6,511 Construction 5,814 Other services 5,085

Ranking in New Zealand

MODEL

By modelled AI exposure, out of 24 regions.

10Manawatū-Whanganui 36% 11Taranaki 35% 12Southland 35% 13Waikato 35% 14West Coast 35% 15Northland 34% 16Chatham Islands 34%
About these estimates. No source publishes AI exposure by region for every country. The model splits New Zealand's real ILO sector employment across regions using population (Wikidata) and density: denser, capital-city regions get more finance, ICT and professional jobs, and rural regions more farming. Totals match national figures. AI usage figures are measured, not modelled. Methodology

Other regions of New Zealand

All of New Zealand →