neighbourhood in Heusden

Braken-West

2,740 residents · postal code 5151 · Part of Drunen, Heusden

Top 27% in the Netherlands

Safe, but not spacious

The railway station is more than thirteen kilometres from Braken-West, and yet the amenities score is a 7.8. That is because the station determines only a small part of that pillar: supermarket, GP, school and restaurant are all within a kilometre here, and those are the items that count.

The 9.6 for safety is broadly grounded. All four offence types — violence, burglary, property crime and vandalism — stay below the national median, and across almost three thousand residents that is no fluke.

The 2.8 for quiet and nature is the figure that runs most against expectation. Despite the location outside the Randstad, greenery within three hundred metres is scarce, the tree canopy is thin, open water is absent and noise is above the national median. The wealth & income pillar is mixed: property value and the share of high incomes stay below the national picture, while vacancy stays below it too.

no. 3,472 of 13,075 neighbourhoods with a grade
no. 9 of 17 in Heusden

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Is Braken-West a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Braken-West comes out at 14 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is low: Braken-West is among the 20% of Dutch neighbourhoods with the fewest recorded crimes.

The figures ⌄

Safety

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

Total crime

13.7 per 1,000

Violent crime

1.1 per 1,000

Burglaries

0.4 per 1,000

Property crime

4.4 per 1,000

Vandalism

1.6 per 1,000

In 2025, 39 crimes were recorded here. The figures above are per 1,000 people present (residents + businesses).

Tick = Dutch median

The safest neighbourhoods in Heusden →The most dangerous neighbourhoods in Heusden →

The figures ⌄

Amenities

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

Supermarket

0.6 km

GP practice

0.7 km

Train station

13.5 km

Restaurant

0.8 km

Hospital

1.5 km

Café

0.3 km

Library

1.2 km

Motorway ramp

1.4 km

Tick = Dutch median

Best amenities in Heusden →

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

€ 376,000

Welfare recipients

10.9 per 1,000

High incomes

13%

Low incomes

42%

Vacancy

Owner-occupied

67%

Social housing

29%

Not counted

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

Single-family homes

77%

Built after 2000

17%

Tick = Dutch median

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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

4,026 inw/km²

Noise level

55 dB

Green surroundings

38%

Trees nearby

Water share

Not counted

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

Addresses per km²

1,567

Fine particles (PM2.5)

9.0 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 Heusden →

The figures ⌄

Families

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

Primary school

0.4 km

Households with children

31%

Childcare

0.4 km

Secondary school

1.2 km

Residents under 15

15%

Tick = Dutch median

The best neighbourhoods for families in Heusden →

Who lives here

Braken-West has strikingly many residents aged 65 and over: 29%, against 22% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.

Age profile

0–1515%
NL median 14%
15–258%
NL median 11%
25–4522%
NL median 22%
45–6525%
NL median 28%
65+29%
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
2.2 — around the average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
34% — more than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
31% — fewer than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
4,026 — 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 Braken-West a safe neighbourhood?

How much crime is there in Braken-West?

In Braken-West the police recorded 39 crimes in 2025: theft, burglary, violence and vandalism combined. The comparison figure above (14 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 Braken-West calculated?

Braken-West scores 8.0 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 Braken-West 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.