| Lake Hood | |
| Pushpin Map: | New Zealand South Island |
| Pushpin Map Alt: | Location of Lake Hood |
| Location: | Canterbury, South Island |
| Type: | artificial lake |
| Basin Countries: | New Zealand |
| Length: | 2.3km (01.4miles) |
| Width: | 1km (01miles) |
| Area: | 80ha |
Lake Hood is a man-made recreational lake, located 6 km south-east of Tinwald in the locality of Huntingdon, Canterbury, New Zealand. It was opened in 2001 by the Right Honourable Jenny Shipley. It is 2.3 km long by 1 km wide and is more than 80ha in area. It features an eight lane rowing course and separate waterskiing and jet skiing areas, and is home to Water Ski Lake Hood.[1] It is increasing in popularity for rowing, as it is not as susceptible to wind as the main South Island rowing venue, Lake Ruataniwha.[2]
A substantial housing subdivision, serving as a satellite suburb of Ashburton has been built surrounding the lake. The area is described as a rural settlement by Statistics New Zealand, and includes Huntingdon. It covers 1.65km2[3] and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. The settlement is part of the larger Eiffelton statistical area.
Before the 2023 census, Lake Hood had a larger boundary, covering 12.64km2.[3] Using that boundary, Lake Hood had a population of 384 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 171 people (80.3%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 312 people (433.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 135 households, comprising 186 males and 195 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.95 males per female, with 90 people (23.4%) aged under 15 years, 45 (11.7%) aged 15 to 29, 198 (51.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 51 (13.3%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 99.2% European/Pākehā, 4.7% Māori, 0.8% Asian, and 0.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 42.2% had no religion, and 52.3% were Christian.
Of those at least 15 years old, 60 (20.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 30 (10.2%) people had no formal qualifications. 123 people (41.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 177 (60.2%) people were employed full-time, and 66 (22.4%) were part-time.