neighbourhood in Stadskanaal

Musselkanaal Centrum

3,630 residents · postal code 9581 · Part of Musselkanaal, Stadskanaal

Bottom 15% in the Netherlands

Plenty of space, less prosperity

Musselkanaal Centrum scores a 2.7 for wealth & income and every component points the same way: property values at just over half the national median, hardly any households on a high income, more than half on a low income, a social assistance rate more than four times the national one and vacancy above the middle. This is not a neighbourhood with one weak measurement but with five.

The crime picture is sharper than the 5.9 suggests. Burglary is almost absent and theft sits below the national median, but violence runs twice as high and vandalism nearly twice. What also counts is distance: the nearest railway station is more than twenty kilometres away, while supermarket, GP and school all stand within seven hundred metres.

no. 11,156 of 13,075 neighbourhoods with a grade
no. 18 of 27 in Stadskanaal

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Is Musselkanaal Centrum a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Musselkanaal Centrum comes out at 27 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is more than in most Dutch neighbourhoods.

The figures ⌄

Safety

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

Total crime

27.4 per 1,000

Violent crime

4.6 per 1,000

Burglaries

0.1 per 1,000

Property crime

7.1 per 1,000

Vandalism

4.0 per 1,000

In 2025, 118 crimes were recorded here. The figures above are per 1,000 people present (residents + businesses).

Tick = Dutch median

The safest neighbourhoods in Stadskanaal →The most dangerous neighbourhoods in Stadskanaal →

The figures ⌄

Amenities

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

Supermarket

0.6 km

GP practice

0.7 km

Train station

20.5 km

Restaurant

0.7 km

Hospital

10.6 km

Café

2.0 km

Library

0.8 km

Motorway ramp

1.2 km

Tick = Dutch median

Best amenities in Stadskanaal →

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

€ 238,000

Welfare recipients

35.8 per 1,000

High incomes

Low incomes

51%

Vacancy

Owner-occupied

50%

Social housing

38%

Not counted

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

Single-family homes

75%

Built after 2000

12%

Tick = Dutch median

The most affluent neighbourhoods in Stadskanaal →

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

1,922 inw/km²

Noise level

51 dB

Green surroundings

40%

Trees nearby

10%

Water share

Not counted

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

Addresses per km²

686

Fine particles (PM2.5)

6.4 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 Stadskanaal →

The figures ⌄

Families

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

Primary school

0.6 km

Households with children

28%

Childcare

0.5 km

Secondary school

7.0 km

Residents under 15

13%

Tick = Dutch median

The best neighbourhoods for families in Stadskanaal →

Who lives here

Musselkanaal Centrum has strikingly many residents aged 65 and over: 30%, against 22% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.

Age profile

0–1513%
NL median 14%
15–259%
NL median 11%
25–4522%
NL median 22%
45–6526%
NL median 28%
65+30%
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
2.0 — smaller than average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
38% — more than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
28% — fewer than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
1,922 — 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 Musselkanaal Centrum a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Musselkanaal Centrum comes out at 27 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is more than in most Dutch neighbourhoods. 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 Musselkanaal Centrum?

In Musselkanaal Centrum the police recorded 118 crimes in 2025: theft, burglary, violence and vandalism combined. The comparison figure above (27 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 Musselkanaal Centrum calculated?

Musselkanaal Centrum scores 3.6 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 Musselkanaal 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.