neighbourhood in Heerlen

Heerlen-Centrum

2,390 residents · postal code 6411 · Part of Heerlen-Centrum, Heerlen

Bottom 6% in the Netherlands

Everything close by, little to spend

The number of reported offences in Heerlen-Centrum is more than seven times above the national median. What stands out is that burglary stays below the median: it is not the homes that are the target. Violence here is ten times the national level.

One in eight addresses is empty and property value stays far below the national median. Together with a social assistance rate far above the median, that holds the wealth & income pillar at a 2.6.

Amenities are hard to beat at a 9.9; everything is a few minutes' walk away. That does little for the families pillar: the primary school is more than a kilometre away, and the share of households with children is among the smallest you will find in the Netherlands.

no. 12,355 of 13,075 neighbourhoods with a grade
no. 48 of 54 in Heerlen

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Is Heerlen-Centrum a safe neighbourhood?

The figures ⌄

Safety

Registered crimes per 1,000 people present per year: residents plus business activity. Figures for small neighbourhoods are smoothed.

Total crime

182.8 per 1,000

Violent crime

23.9 per 1,000

Burglaries

0.3 per 1,000

Property crime

83.3 per 1,000

Vandalism

9.9 per 1,000

In 2025, 839 crimes were recorded here. The figures above are per 1,000 people present (residents + businesses).

Tick = Dutch median

The safest neighbourhoods in Heerlen →The most dangerous neighbourhoods in Heerlen →

The figures ⌄

Amenities

Average distance to everyday amenities, compared with the Dutch median.

Supermarket

0.4 km

GP practice

0.6 km

Train station

0.9 km

Restaurant

0.2 km

Hospital

3.3 km

Café

0.2 km

Library

0.5 km

Motorway ramp

1.1 km

Tick = Dutch median

Best amenities in Heerlen →

The figures ⌄

Wealth & income

What the homes are worth, what residents earn and how many homes stand empty. It describes the area, not the people living in it.

Property value

€ 216,000

Welfare recipients

50.2 per 1,000

High incomes

11%

Low incomes

46%

Vacancy

12%

Owner-occupied

29%

Social housing

29%

Not counted

Part of this score's subject, but not part of the grade.

Single-family homes

Built after 2000

13%

Tick = Dutch median

The most affluent neighbourhoods in Heerlen →

The figures ⌄

Quiet & nature

How tightly the addresses sit together, how much noise there is, and how much green, trees and water surround it.

Population density

5,682 inw/km²

Noise level

56 dB

Green surroundings

32%

Trees nearby

12%

Water share

Not counted

Part of this score's subject, but not part of the grade.

Addresses per km²

2,948

Fine particles (PM2.5)

7.9 µg/m³

Not part of the grade: air quality varies mostly between regions, barely between neighbourhoods within one municipality. WHO guideline: 5 µg/m³. Calculated annual mean, RIVM 2024.

Tick = Dutch median

The quietest, greenest neighbourhoods in Heerlen →

The figures ⌄

Families

How practical this area is with children: distance to school and childcare, and how many children already live here.

Primary school

1.2 km

Households with children

Childcare

0.4 km

Secondary school

0.8 km

Residents under 15

Tick = Dutch median

The best neighbourhoods for families in Heerlen →

Who lives here

Heerlen-Centrum has strikingly few children under 15: 4%, against 14% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.

Age profile

0–154%
NL median 14%
15–2511%
NL median 11%
25–4530%
NL median 22%
45–6522%
NL median 28%
65+33%
NL median 22%

Share of residents per age group (CBS, 2025). All five bars share one scale, so their lengths can be compared with each other.

Average household size
1.4 — far smaller than average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
66% — far more than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
7% — far fewer than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
5,682 — far more densely populated than average
NL median 2,364

Tick = Dutch median. Households with children counts towards Families, population density towards Quiet & nature; the other figures here get no grade.

Frequently asked questions

Is Heerlen-Centrum a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Heerlen-Centrum comes out at 183 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is high: Heerlen-Centrum is among the 20% of Dutch neighbourhoods with the most recorded crimes. One caveat: the figure counts per person present, not per resident. In a neighbourhood with many visitors — a centre, a station, a shopping area — it therefore comes out higher than residents experience. The figure is about what the police record, not about the people who live there.

How much crime is there in Heerlen-Centrum?

In Heerlen-Centrum the police recorded 839 crimes in 2025: theft, burglary, violence and vandalism combined. The comparison figure above (183 per 1,000) is not simply that count divided by the number of residents: we count residents plus workplaces, so a shopping street or station is not unfairly penalised, and for small counts we pull the figure towards the national average — otherwise a single incident would make a small neighbourhood look unsafe.

How is the grade for Heerlen-Centrum calculated?

Heerlen-Centrum scores 2.9 as its total score. That grade is a national position: we weigh five equally heavy scores — safety, amenities, wealth & income, quiet & nature and families — and see where Heerlen-Centrum lands among every neighbourhood in the Netherlands. So it is not the mean of the five grades, but a place in the queue. All from open data published by CBS and the police.