neighbourhood in Utrecht

Het Zand-West

6,925 residents · postal code 3544 · Part of Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht

Top 6% in the Netherlands

Safe, but not spacious

Four of the five pillars in Het Zand-West stand well above the national level; one, quiet, stays stuck at a 3.7. That is not a flaw but the bill for the density: almost eight thousand residents per square kilometre, more noise than usual, and both greenery and tree canopy below the median. Only the share of water works in its favour.

The wealth score of 9.0 in fact points the same way right across the board. The property value lies far above the national median, more than twice as many households with a high income live there as elsewhere, the bottom group is thin, and even the social assistance density stays below the usual level. You rarely see it that complete.

What the table does not tell you: this is a neighbourhood built almost entirely after the turn of the century, where few older people live and where the railway station lies closer than the supermarket.

no. 747 of 13,075 neighbourhoods with a grade
no. 7 of 107 in Utrecht

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Is Het Zand-West a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Het Zand-West comes out at 19 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is fewer 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

19.5 per 1,000

Violent crime

0.8 per 1,000

Burglaries

0.3 per 1,000

Property crime

9.5 per 1,000

Vandalism

1.2 per 1,000

In 2025, 181 crimes were recorded here. The figures above are per 1,000 people present (residents + businesses).

Tick = Dutch median

The safest neighbourhoods in Utrecht →The most dangerous neighbourhoods in Utrecht →

The figures ⌄

Amenities

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

Supermarket

1.2 km

GP practice

0.8 km

Train station

0.8 km

Restaurant

1.1 km

Hospital

2.9 km

Café

1.7 km

Library

1.1 km

Motorway ramp

2.5 km

Tick = Dutch median

Best amenities in Utrecht →

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

€ 610,000

Welfare recipients

7.2 per 1,000

High incomes

41%

Low incomes

25%

Vacancy

Owner-occupied

65%

Social housing

15%

Not counted

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

Single-family homes

59%

Built after 2000

97%

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

7,911 inw/km²

Noise level

57 dB

Green surroundings

48%

Trees nearby

Water share

Not counted

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

Addresses per km²

2,085

Fine particles (PM2.5)

9.3 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

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The figures ⌄

Families

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

Primary school

0.8 km

Households with children

50%

Childcare

0.7 km

Secondary school

1.9 km

Residents under 15

23%

Tick = Dutch median

The best neighbourhoods for families in Utrecht →

Who lives here

Het Zand-West has strikingly few residents aged 65 and over: 6%, against 22% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.

Age profile

0–1523%
NL median 14%
15–2511%
NL median 11%
25–4536%
NL median 22%
45–6524%
NL median 28%
65+6%
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
2.6 — larger than average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
26% — fewer than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
50% — far more than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
7,911 — 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 Het Zand-West a safe neighbourhood?

For 2025, Het Zand-West comes out at 19 recorded crimes per 1,000 people present; the national middle is 24. That is fewer than in most Dutch neighbourhoods. The figure is about what the police record, not about the people who live there.

How much crime is there in Het Zand-West?

In Het Zand-West the police recorded 181 crimes in 2025: theft, burglary, violence and vandalism combined. The comparison figure above (19 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 Het Zand-West calculated?

Het Zand-West 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 Het Zand-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.