Dobson is a small town on the banks of the Grey River in the South Island of New Zealand. It is 10 kilometres (6 mi) east from the river's mouth at Greymouth. The settlement of Taylorville is across the river from Dobson, but no bridge directly connects the two. State Highway 7 passes through Dobson.

The town is named for the surveyor George Dobson, the second son of Edward Dobson and brother of Arthur Dudley Dobson, who was murdered at this site in 1866. He was killed in a bungled robbery by the Burgess gang, who had mistaken him for a gold buyer carrying gold from the nearby Arnold goldfield. A monument now stands where George Dobson was murdered.

Dobson was the site of one of the West Coast's many coal mines. The Dobson mine was opened in 1919, and closed in 1968. It was the site of one of the country's worst mining disasters. Nine men were killed in an explosion at the mine in 1926.

A hydroelectric dam was proposed for the area by TrustPower in 1999 but it failed to secure access to public land that needed to be flooded for the scheme. In 2003 Nick Smith, who was an Opposition MP at the time, attempted to remove the reserve status from the land needed for the dam reservoir in order to allow the scheme to go ahead, but was unsuccessful.

Dobson and Taylorville are defined by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and cover 6.09 km (2.35 sq mi). They had an estimated population of 660 as of June 2024, with a population density of 108 people per km. Dobson and Taylorville are part of the larger Dobson statistical area.

Historical population for Dobson and Taylorville

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2006	597	—
2013	564	−0.81%
2018	570	+0.21%
Source:

Before the 2023 census, Dobson and Taylorville had a smaller boundary, covering 4.19 km (1.62 sq mi). Using that boundary, they had a population of 570 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 6 people (1.1%) since the 2013 census, and a decrease of 27 people (−4.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 240 households, comprising 315 males and 255 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.24 males per female, with 96 people (16.8%) aged under 15 years, 114 (20.0%) aged 15 to 29, 243 (42.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 111 (19.5%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 92.6% European/Pākehā, 13.2% Māori, 0.5% Pasifika, 2.1% Asian, and 1.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 56.3% had no religion, 26.3% were Christian and 2.1% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 24 (5.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 162 (34.2%) people had no formal qualifications. 57 people (12.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 243 (51.3%) people were employed full-time, 57 (12.0%) were part-time, and 27 (5.7%) were unemployed.

Dobson statistical area covers 170.91 km (65.99 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 950 as of June 2024, with a population density of 5.6 people per km.

Historical population for Dobson statistical area

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2006	807	—
2013	801	−0.11%
2018	828	+0.67%
Source:

Before the 2023 census, Dobson statistical area had a smaller boundary, covering 169.89 km (65.59 sq mi). Using that boundary, the statistical area had a population of 828 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 27 people (3.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 21 people (2.6%) since the 2006 census. There were 342 households, comprising 459 males and 369 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.24 males per female. The median age was 44.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 141 people (17.0%) aged under 15 years, 150 (18.1%) aged 15 to 29, 393 (47.5%) aged 30 to 64, and 147 (17.8%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 93.5% European/Pākehā, 11.6% Māori, 0.4% Pasifika, 2.5% Asian, and 1.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 6.2, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 58.0% had no religion, 26.1% were Christian, 0.4% were Hindu and 2.9% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 45 (6.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 222 (32.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $27,800, compared with $31,800 nationally. 87 people (12.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 360 (52.4%) people were employed full-time, 93 (13.5%) were part-time, and 36 (5.2%) were unemployed.

Paparoa Range School is a coeducational full primary (years 1–8) school with a decile rating of 3 and a roll of 52 students as of August 2024. The school was established in 2005 when Blackball, Kaiata, Stillwater and Brunnerton Primary Schools were merged onto the Brunnerton Primary School site.

• History of West Coast coal mining