Eight per cent of Auckland residents rated their quality of life as "extremely good".

Up to forty per cent of Aucklanders in some suburbs say they don't have enough money to cover everyday items such as food and clothing.

Nearly half described their housing costs as unaffordable.

The findings are part of a major two-yearly survey on quality of life conducted for Auckland Council and eight other cities and regions.

Auckland is the first of the nine councils to publish the full version of its city survey. Its report showed big differences across the region's 21 local board areas on how people feel about the lives they lead.

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Those happiest with their quality of life were on the gulf islands Waiheke and Great Barrier, where 22 per cent ranked it "extremely good", compared with the Auckland average of eight per cent.

Supplied More than half the residents of wealthy Ōrākei rated their quality of life as extremely good or very good.

Adding "extremely good" and "very good" together, central Waitematā rated highest with 61 per cent, followed by Devonport-Takapuna with 60 per cent and Ōrākei with 57 per cent.

By contrast, just one per cent of respondents in the poorer southern board areas of Manurewa and Māngere-Ōtāhuhu called their quality of life extremely good, with poor or very poor being the view of seven and 13 per cent respectively.

A more consistent view across the region came in the response to the question of whether one's current housing cost was affordable.

In wealthy Ōrākei, 41 per cent either strongly agreed or agreed, while in lower-income Māngere-Ōtāhuhu it was 37 percent.

Just one third of Māngere-Ōtāhuhu residents strongly agreed or agreed they could afford to heat their home properly, compared with 65 per cent Auckland-wide.

Across Auckland, only 40 per cent considered their current housing costs affordable, 44 per cent disagreed and 12 per cent were neutral.

None Views on quality of life varied widely across Auckland's 21 local board areas.

Those living in the west and south had the strongest views that drug- and alcohol-related problems were an issue in their local areas.

In Henderson-Massey, 59 per cent considered it either a "big problem" or a "bit of a problem", compared with 41 per cent Auckland-wide.

Ethnic disparities were also large, with 27 per cent of Pasifika respondents considering drugs and alcohol issues a big problem, Māori 22 per cent, and Pakeha and Asian 10 per cent.

The survey also explored views on people begging in the street or sleeping rough.

Across Auckland, 15 per cent considered begging a big problem, with the greatest concern in Manurewa with 38 per cent, and the least in Rodney, Hibiscus and Bays, and Ōrākei, between just one and three per cent.

It was a similar picture on rough sleepers who were considered a big problem in Manurewa (46 per cent) and Māngere-Ōtāhuhu (31 per cent), compared to three per cent in Rodney, Upper Harbour and Ōrākei.

People felt safest in their own homes after dark in Waiheke-Great Barrier (81 per cent) and least safe in Manurewa (27 per cent).

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has taken pleasure from the headline quality of life finding.

"It's great to see the vast majority of Aucklanders rate the quality of their life in our city positively, and that the numbers have improved over the last two years," Goff said in a statement.

The mayor may not have noticed page 210 of the report, which looked at the trend in public confidence in council decision-making.

Only 29 per cent strongly agreed or agreed they had confidence that Auckland Council was making decisions in the best interests of the city.

That was down on the 34 per cent approval two years ago, and on the 39 per cent of 2014.