How safe is a neighbourhood? How to read the figures
How many crimes the police register in a neighbourhood is in the police’s open data per district and neighbourhood, by type of crime. Read such a figure per 1,000 residents, next to the figure for the Netherlands as a whole, and each type separately: a registered crime is a report or notification at that place, not a judgement on the neighbourhood or on the people who live there.
What the police figures are
Every year and every month the police publish the number of registered crimes per district and neighbourhood, by type: from burglary and bicycle theft to vandalism, assault and fraud. It is open data under the CC BY 4.0 licence. For all years the districts and neighbourhoods follow the boundaries of 1 January 2025, so you can compare years.
Registered means: the police have a report or notification of it. An attempt counts, and what nobody reports is not in it. The crime counts where it happened, not where the offender or the victim lives.
Why per 1,000 residents, and when that misleads
A neighbourhood with ten thousand residents naturally has more crimes than one with a thousand. That is why you divide by the number of residents. But that does not work equally well everywhere:
- A city centre, a station or a shopping area has few residents and many visitors: shoplifting and pickpocketing weigh heavily there per resident.
- In a small neighbourhood one burglary more or less makes a big difference: then also look at a few years in a row.
- A total says little: bicycle theft and violence weigh differently for a family than for an investor. Look at the types that matter to you.
Liveability: more than crime
CBS (Statistics Netherlands) publishes key figures per neighbourhood: residents, households, the share of owner-occupied and rented homes, the average WOZ value and income. It also measures the distance to the GP, the supermarket, the primary school and the railway station. In its Atlas Leefomgeving, RIVM shows the noise and air quality at an address. Together they say more than one figure.
How the Perceelscan reads the figures
Location in figures puts five figures side by side: the distance to a railway station, to a large supermarket, the registered crimes per 1,000 residents, the average WOZ value and the number of potential obstacles of the plot. Each figure stands next to that of the Netherlands as a whole.
Where the direction is clear, a figure gets a colour: green if it is at least 15% more favourable than the Netherlands, red if it is at least 15% less favourable, orange in between. Fewer crimes or a shorter distance to a school or station is more favourable. There is always a word with the colour, also on paper. The WOZ value, income and the neighbourhood’s key figures get no colour, nor do very small numbers or a source that did not respond.
The report never adds the colours up into a score: a family, an investor and a property developer read the same figures differently, and a risk does not disappear into an average.
Looking further yourself
Walk down the street at different times, also in the evening, and talk to the neighbours. Ask the municipality about plans in the area. You can find the figures per neighbourhood yourself in the police’s open data and at CBS.
What the Perceelscan does with it
Section 14, Location and living environment, shows Location in figures with a colour per figure, every type of crime in the neighbourhood (including the zeros), the CBS key figures, the stops, the station, the air next to the WHO guideline and the noise. This is what it looks like: see that section in the sample report.
Is a neighbourhood with many registered crimes unsafe?
Not necessarily. The figure counts reports and notifications at that place, also from visitors and also attempts. Look at the types of crime and at a few years in a row.
Why does a city centre have so many crimes per resident?
Because few people live there and many people come: shoplifting and pickpocketing weigh heavily per resident.
Does the Perceelscan give a safety score?
No. Each figure stands separately next to that of the Netherlands as a whole, with a colour where the direction is clear. The report never adds them up.
Where can I find the figures for my neighbourhood myself?
In the police’s open data (registered crimes per district and neighbourhood) and at CBS (key figures for districts and neighbourhoods).
Sources
- Police: registered crimes per district and neighbourhood (data.overheid.nl)
- CBS: key figures for districts and neighbourhoods
- RIVM: Atlas Leefomgeving
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