district in Utrecht
Binnenstad
Binnenstad has 11 neighbourhoods with 20,650 residents in total.
Utrecht's old centre runs from Hoog-Catharijne and the Jaarbeurs to the Domplein, eleven neighbourhoods and just over 20,000 residents. Amenities reach 9.6 here, fitting for the beating heart of the city. Safety is the weak spot at 3.1, with the crush of station, shops and nightlife, and quiet and nature get no further than 3.7. Wealth and income stand firm at 7.0, but the overall grade stalls at 5.2.
no. 8 of the 10 districts of Utrecht
Short answer: Binnenstad scores 5.2 as a district of Utrecht, no. 8 of the 10 districts of Utrecht. Its strongest neighbourhood is Springweg en omgeving Geertebuurt (7.3), the worst Nobelstraat en omgeving (3.3). The district has 11 neighbourhoods with 20,650 residents in total.
Key figures for Binnenstad
- residents
- 20,650
- neighbourhoods
- 11
- km² of land
- 2.6
How Binnenstad 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, 7,877 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.
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 has strikingly many residents aged 25 to 45: 49%, against 22% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.
Age profile
- 0–155%
NL median 14%
- 15–2518%
NL median 11%
- 25–4549%
NL median 22%
- 45–6517%
NL median 28%
- 65+12%
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
1.4 — far smaller than average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
68% — far more than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
7% — far fewer than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
10,444 — 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, weighted by population.
The best and worst neighbourhoods of Binnenstad
The same total grade, the same yardstick — from the top to the bottom of Binnenstad.
Neighbourhoods in Binnenstad
Sorted by total grade
- 1Springweg en omgeving Geertebuurt7.3
- 2Hooch Boulandt6.4
- 3Nieuwegracht-Oost6.1
- 4Lange Nieuwstraat en omgeving5.7
- 5Domplein, Neude, Janskerkhof5.2
- 6Breedstraat en Plompetorengracht en omgeving5.1
- 7Bleekstraat en omgeving4.7
- 8Lange Elisabethstraat, Mariaplaats en omgeving4.4
- 9Hoog-Catharijne NS en Jaarbeurs3.9
- 10Wijk C3.7
- 11Nobelstraat en omgeving3.3