neighbourhood in Leeuwarden

Zuiderburen

5,430 residents · postal code 8939 · Part of Hempens/Teerns & Zuiderburen, Leeuwarden

Top 12% in the Netherlands

Safe, but everything is a drive away

Zuiderburen was built in its entirety after 2000, and that can be read off almost every figure — except the amenities. The GP is almost four kilometres away, the nearest restaurant just as far, and the supermarket is not within walking distance either. A 3.7 on that component fits a rural area better than a new-build neighbourhood on the edge of a provincial capital.

That carries through into the families pillar in a way the figure disguises. In more than half of the households there is a child, an exceptionally high share, but the primary school is more than a kilometre away and school distance weighs heaviest in that pillar. So what is left is a 6.8 for a population that clearly sits above it.

Safety goes the other way. Violence, burglary, theft and vandalism are each well below the Dutch level here, and that is where the 9.9 comes from.

no. 1,523 of 13,075 neighbourhoods with a grade
no. 5 of 111 in Leeuwarden

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Is Zuiderburen a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Zuiderburen comes out at 15 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is low: Zuiderburen 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

14.6 per 1,000

Violent crime

0.6 per 1,000

Burglaries

0.2 per 1,000

Property crime

3.8 per 1,000

Vandalism

1.8 per 1,000

In 2025, 99 crimes were recorded here. The figures above are per 1,000 people present (residents + businesses).

Tick = Dutch median

The safest neighbourhoods in Leeuwarden →The most dangerous neighbourhoods in Leeuwarden →

The figures ⌄

Amenities

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

Supermarket

1.6 km

GP practice

3.8 km

Train station

5.1 km

Restaurant

3.9 km

Hospital

3.8 km

Café

3.8 km

Library

5.2 km

Motorway ramp

3.4 km

Tick = Dutch median

Best amenities in Leeuwarden →

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

€ 491,000

Welfare recipients

3.7 per 1,000

High incomes

31%

Low incomes

33%

Vacancy

Owner-occupied

87%

Social housing

Not counted

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

Single-family homes

94%

Built after 2000

100%

Tick = Dutch median

The most affluent neighbourhoods in Leeuwarden →

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

1,681 inw/km²

Noise level

52 dB

Green surroundings

60%

Trees nearby

Water share

21%

Not counted

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

Addresses per km²

756

Fine particles (PM2.5)

6.3 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 Leeuwarden →

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

51%

Childcare

1.2 km

Secondary school

3.8 km

Residents under 15

18%

Tick = Dutch median

The best neighbourhoods for families in Leeuwarden →

Who lives here

Zuiderburen has strikingly many young people aged 15 to 25: 15%, against 11% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.

Age profile

0–1518%
NL median 14%
15–2515%
NL median 11%
25–4518%
NL median 22%
45–6534%
NL median 28%
65+14%
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
2.7 — larger than average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
16% — far fewer than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
51% — far more than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
1,681 — less 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 Zuiderburen a safe neighbourhood?

How much crime is there in Zuiderburen?

In Zuiderburen the police recorded 99 crimes in 2025: theft, burglary, violence and vandalism combined. The comparison figure above (15 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 Zuiderburen calculated?

Zuiderburen scores 9.1 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 Zuiderburen 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.