neighbourhood in Leiden

Meerburg

2,205 residents · postal code 2314 · Part of Roodenburgerdistrict, Leiden

Bottom 34% in the Netherlands

Everything close by, little space

Meerburg shows how differently a high crime figure can work out. The total is well above the national middle here, but violence and vandalism both sit below it; what pushes the figure up is theft, almost double the median. That is the profile of a densely built neighbourhood where belongings disappear, not of streets where you would rather stay in after dark.

The amenities explain why there is so much to take: supermarket, GP and restaurant are all a few hundred metres away, good for a 9.2.

The wealth & income pillar is the score with the sharpest edge. The social assistance rate here is almost six times the Dutch middle, while the share of households with a high income sits slightly above that middle. This is not a poor neighbourhood and not a rich one, but one with a wide gap in between.

no. 8,666 of 13,075 neighbourhoods with a grade
no. 29 of 53 in Leiden

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Is Meerburg a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Meerburg comes out at 36 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is high: Meerburg is among the 20% of Dutch neighbourhoods with the most 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

36.3 per 1,000

Violent crime

2.2 per 1,000

Burglaries

1.3 per 1,000

Property crime

17.5 per 1,000

Vandalism

1.8 per 1,000

In 2025, 110 crimes were recorded here. The figures above are per 1,000 people present (residents + businesses).

Tick = Dutch median

The safest neighbourhoods in Leiden →The most dangerous neighbourhoods in Leiden →

The figures ⌄

Amenities

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

Supermarket

0.3 km

GP practice

0.5 km

Train station

2.4 km

Restaurant

0.5 km

Hospital

2.2 km

Café

1.0 km

Library

1.8 km

Motorway ramp

2.1 km

Tick = Dutch median

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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

€ 373,000

Welfare recipients

45.4 per 1,000

High incomes

22%

Low incomes

40%

Vacancy

Owner-occupied

39%

Social housing

39%

Not counted

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

Single-family homes

38%

Built after 2000

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

8,295 inw/km²

Noise level

57 dB

Green surroundings

43%

Trees nearby

10%

Water share

Not counted

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

Addresses per km²

3,024

Fine particles (PM2.5)

8.7 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 Leiden →

The figures ⌄

Families

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

Primary school

1.0 km

Households with children

24%

Childcare

0.3 km

Secondary school

1.1 km

Residents under 15

14%

Tick = Dutch median

The best neighbourhoods for families in Leiden →

Who lives here

Meerburg has strikingly many residents aged 25 to 45: 31%, against 22% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.

Age profile

0–1514%
NL median 14%
15–2511%
NL median 11%
25–4531%
NL median 22%
45–6525%
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
1.8 — smaller than average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
52% — far more than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
24% — far fewer than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
8,295 — 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 Meerburg a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Meerburg comes out at 36 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is high: Meerburg 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 Meerburg?

In Meerburg the police recorded 110 crimes in 2025: theft, burglary, violence and vandalism combined. The comparison figure above (36 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 Meerburg calculated?

Meerburg scores 5.0 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 Meerburg 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.