district in Leiden
Binnenstad-Zuid
Binnenstad-Zuid has 4 neighbourhoods with 8,850 residents in total.
Binnenstad-Zuid is the oldest Leiden: the Pieterswijk around the Pieterskerk, the Academiewijk around the university building on the Rapenburg canal. Amenities score 9.6; safety (3.6) and the abundance of stacked student flats press the overall grade to 4.4.
no. 7 of the 10 districts of Leiden
Short answer: Binnenstad-Zuid scores 4.4 as a district of Leiden, no. 7 of the 10 districts of Leiden. Its strongest neighbourhood is Levendaal-West (6.7), the worst Pieterswijk (3.4). The district has 4 neighbourhoods with 8,850 residents in total.
Key figures for Binnenstad-Zuid
- residents
- 8,850
- neighbourhoods
- 4
- km² of land
- 0.7
How Binnenstad-Zuid scores
Do some of these matter more to you than others?
The figures ⌄Safety
Registered crimes per 1,000 people present per year: residents plus business activity. Figures for small neighbourhoods are smoothed.
In 2025, 760 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.
Tick = Dutch median
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.
Not counted
Part of this score's subject, but not part of the grade.
Tick = Dutch median
The figures ⌄Quiet & nature
How tightly the addresses sit together, how much noise there is, and how much green, trees and water surround it.
Not counted
Part of this score's subject, but not part of the grade.
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 figures ⌄Families
How practical this area is with children: distance to school and childcare, and how many children already live here.
Tick = Dutch median
Who lives here
Binnenstad-Zuid has strikingly many young people aged 15 to 25: 36%, against 11% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.
Age profile
- 0–153%
NL median 14%
- 15–2536%
NL median 11%
- 25–4536%
NL median 22%
- 45–6515%
NL median 28%
- 65+10%
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
1.3 — far smaller than average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
77% — far more than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
6% — far fewer than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
13,504 — 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. Average of the neighbourhoods in Binnenstad-Zuid, weighted by population.
The best and worst neighbourhoods of Binnenstad-Zuid
The same total grade, the same yardstick — from the top to the bottom of Binnenstad-Zuid.
Highest grades
Lowest grades
Neighbourhoods in Binnenstad-Zuid
Sorted by total grade