Featherston, New Zealand
Featherston
Paetūmōkai (Māori) | |
|---|---|
Fitzherbert Street in Featherston | |
Interactive map of Featherston | |
| Coordinates: 41°7′S 175°19′E / 41.117°S 175.317°E | |
| Region | Wellington Region |
| Territorial authority | South Wairarapa District |
| Ward | Featherston Ward |
| Community | Featherston Community |
| Founded | 1856 |
| Named after | Isaac Featherston |
| Electorates | |
| Government | |
| • Territorial Authority | South Wairarapa District Council |
| • Regional council | Greater Wellington Regional Council |
| • Mayor of South Wairarapa | Fran Wilde |
| • Wairarapa MP | Mike Butterick |
| • Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP | Cushla Tangaere-Manuel |
| Area | |
• Total | 3.19 km2 (1.23 sq mi) |
| Population (June 2025) | |
• Total | 2,870 |
| • Density | 900/km2 (2,330/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+12 (NZST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+13 (NZDT) |
| Postcode(s) | 5710 |
| Area code | 06 |
Featherston (Māori: Paetūmōkai) is a town in the South Wairarapa District, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island. It is at the eastern foothills of Remutaka Range close to the northern shore of Lake Wairarapa, 63 km (39 mi) north-east of central Wellington and 37 km (23 mi) south-west of Masterton.
The town has a population of 2,870 (June 2025). Featherston has increasingly become a satellite town of Wellington since the Remutaka rail tunnel opened in 1955; at the 2006 census, 36% of employed Featherston residents worked in Wellington and the Hutt Valley. This proximity to the capital, coupled with low house prices, made Featherston popular with writers, artists and those with young families, in turn leading to a recent upsurge in business investment and creative activity. From 2014 to 2019, housing prices in Featherston increased by 108% while rental prices went from an average of $140 to $400 in the same time period.