neighbourhood in Houten

Meren

1,945 residents · postal code 3994 · Part of Houten Zuid-Oost, Houten

Top 6% in the Netherlands

Safe, but everything is a drive away

The number of recorded offences in Meren comes to just over a third of the national middle, and that holds for each of the four types separately: violence, burglary, property crime and vandalism all stay below it. A picture that consistent produces a 9.9 for safety.

More than three in ten square metres of the neighbourhood is water — sixty times the national middle — and that is what keeps the quiet & nature pillar at 6.5 despite a tree canopy less than half as dense as average. Water and trees carry equal weight there; here one compensates for the other.

The price shows up in the amenities pillar, a 5.1. Supermarket, restaurant and GP are all more than a kilometre and a half away. At fourteen hundred metres the primary school is no stroll either, and because school distance is the heaviest component of the families pillar, that one stays at 6.4 even though many households here have children.

no. 742 of 13,075 neighbourhoods with a grade
no. 12 of 48 in Houten

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Is Meren a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Meren comes out at 10 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is low: Meren 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

9.6 per 1,000

Violent crime

0.5 per 1,000

Burglaries

0.5 per 1,000

Property crime

2.8 per 1,000

Vandalism

0.8 per 1,000

In 2025, 14 crimes were recorded here. The figures above are per 1,000 people present (residents + businesses).

Tick = Dutch median

The safest neighbourhoods in Houten →The most dangerous neighbourhoods in Houten →

The figures ⌄

Amenities

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

Supermarket

2.2 km

GP practice

1.7 km

Train station

2.4 km

Restaurant

2.3 km

Hospital

1.6 km

Café

1.9 km

Library

3.3 km

Motorway ramp

2.2 km

Tick = Dutch median

Best amenities in Houten →

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

€ 592,000

Welfare recipients

5.1 per 1,000

High incomes

31%

Low incomes

31%

Vacancy

Owner-occupied

88%

Social housing

10%

Not counted

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

Single-family homes

92%

Built after 2000

46%

Tick = Dutch median

The most affluent neighbourhoods in Houten →

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

7,228 inw/km²

Noise level

49 dB

Green surroundings

60%

Trees nearby

Water share

31%

Not counted

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

Addresses per km²

1,039

Fine particles (PM2.5)

8.8 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 Houten →

The figures ⌄

Families

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

Primary school

1.4 km

Households with children

44%

Childcare

1.4 km

Secondary school

1.4 km

Residents under 15

16%

Tick = Dutch median

The best neighbourhoods for families in Houten →

Who lives here

The age profile of Meren looks much like that of the average Dutch neighbourhood.

Age profile

0–1516%
NL median 14%
15–2512%
NL median 11%
25–4519%
NL median 22%
45–6534%
NL median 28%
65+19%
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
2.5 — larger than average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
21% — far fewer than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
44% — more than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
7,228 — 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 Meren a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Meren comes out at 10 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is low: Meren is among the 20% of Dutch neighbourhoods with the fewest recorded crimes. The figure is about what the police record, not about the people who live there.

How much crime is there in Meren?

In Meren the police recorded 14 crimes in 2025: theft, burglary, violence and vandalism combined. The comparison figure above (10 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 Meren calculated?

Meren scores 9.6 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 Meren 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.