district in Zaanstad
Zaandam West
Zaandam West has 3 neighbourhoods with 9,305 residents in total.
Zaandam West turns on three older neighbourhoods, Oud West, the Schilders- en Waddenbuurt and the Spoorbuurt, together over 9,300 residents. Amenities are strongest at 9.4. Beneath that it stays around or just below the middle: wealth and income 5.4, safety 4.4, quiet and nature 4.4. Nowhere a real spike down. With an overall of 5.6, this urban Zaan district sits just below the national middle: complete and busy.
no. 9 of the 19 districts of Zaanstad
Short answer: Zaandam West scores 5.6 as a district of Zaanstad, no. 9 of the 19 districts of Zaanstad. Its highest neighbourhood grade is Schilders- en Waddenbuurt (8.8). The district has 3 neighbourhoods with 9,305 residents in total.
Key figures for Zaandam West
- residents
- 9,305
- neighbourhoods
- 3
- km² of land
- 1.3
How Zaandam West 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, 722 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 ⌄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
Zaandam West has strikingly many residents aged 25 to 45: 32%, against 22% in the average Dutch neighbourhood.
Age profile
- 0–1514%
NL median 14%
- 15–2511%
NL median 11%
- 25–4532%
NL median 22%
- 45–6526%
NL median 28%
- 65+18%
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
1.9 — smaller than average
NL median 2.3
Single-person households
47% — far more than average
NL median 31%
Households with children
28% — fewer than average
NL median 35%
Residents per km²
7,888 — 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 Zaandam West, weighted by population.
Neighbourhoods in Zaandam West
Sorted by total grade