district in Zaanstad
Poelenburg
Poelenburg has 3 neighbourhoods with 8,605 residents in total.
Poelenburg is Zaandam's best-known renewal district, three neighbourhoods with much post-war high-rise. The numbers rank among the Zaan region's lowest — 4.8 overall, wealth and income 3.4 — and the Poelenburg-Peldersveld pact is meant to change that in the coming years.
no. 14 of the 19 districts of Zaanstad
Short answer: Poelenburg scores 4.8 as a district of Zaanstad, no. 14 of the 19 districts of Zaanstad. Its highest neighbourhood grade is Poelenburg Noord (5.6). The district has 3 neighbourhoods with 8,605 residents in total.
Key figures for Poelenburg
- residents
- 8,605
- neighbourhoods
- 3
- km² of land
- 1
How Poelenburg 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, 316 crimes were recorded here. The figures above are per 1,000 people present (residents + businesses).
Tick = Dutch median
The safest neighbourhoods in Zaanstad →The most dangerous neighbourhoods in Zaanstad →
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
Poelenburg has strikingly many children under 15: 20%, against 14% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.
Age profile
- 0–1520%
NL median 14%
- 15–2513%
NL median 11%
- 25–4530%
NL median 22%
- 45–6525%
NL median 28%
- 65+13%
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
2.3 — around the average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
38% — more than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
45% — more than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
8,479 — 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 Poelenburg, weighted by population.
Neighbourhoods in Poelenburg
Sorted by total grade