Cust is a rural village in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located in North Canterbury and comes under seat of the Waimakariri District Council. It is located approximately 16 km east of Oxford and 17 km west of Rangiora. The town is named after Sir Edward Cust, who was a member of the Canterbury Association which organised European settlement of the area around 1850. Earlier names for the town were Moeraki Downs and Middleton-on-the-Cust. Education Cust School is Cust's only school. It is a state co-educational full primary school with a decile rating of 10 and a roll of students (as of The principal is Robert Schuyt. Demographics Cust is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers . It is part of the wider Starvation Hill-Cust statistical area. Cust had a population of 390 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 27 people (7.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 36 people (10.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 144 households. There were 192 males and 195 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female, with 78 people (20.0%) aged under 15 years, 42 (10.8%) aged 15 to 29, 177 (45.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 90 (23.1%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 97.7% European/Pākehā, 3.8% Māori, 1.5% Pacific peoples and 1.5% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). Although some people objected to giving their religion, 53.8% had no religion, 30.0% were Christian, 1.5% were Buddhist and 1.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 60 (19.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 48 (15.4%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 147 (47.1%) people were employed full-time, 48 (15.4%) were part-time, and 0 (0.0%) were unemployed. Starvation Hill-Cust statistical area Starvation Hill-Cust statistical area covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Starvation Hill-Cust had a population of 2,217 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 267 people (13.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 828 people (59.6%) since the 2006 census. There were 798 households. There were 1,092 males and 1,125 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.97 males per female. The median age was 46.1 years (compared