People who google "is Amsterdam safe" usually don't want a general answer. They want to know whether the street they're moving to feels right. So we lined up Amsterdam's districts and put the official figures next to what residents write on Buurtje.nl.
The honest story first
Amsterdam is a big, busy city, and it shows. On the measure we use, the municipality as a whole does better than only 5% of all Dutch districts. Even Amsterdam's safest district, Driemond, gets no further than better than 69%. A place at the top in Amsterdam would often be mid-table in a quiet provincial town. Keep that in mind when reading the list below.
The measure is the Leefbaarometer (liveability barometer) of the Dutch Ministry of the Interior. It scores every district in the Netherlands on several aspects. We use the one for nuisance and lack of safety, which includes registered crimes, vandalism and reports of nuisance. The percentage we give means: this district does better than that share of all districts in the Netherlands. Only districts with at least 1,000 residents are included.
The ten safest districts in Amsterdam
- Driemond: better than 69%
A village of around 1,700 residents in the far south-east of the municipality, well away from the bustle of the city. The supply is small: a handful of homes for sale and the occasional home for rent. - Aetsveld/Oostelijke Vechtoever: better than 54%
This district of around 4,300 residents belongs to Weesp, which has been part of Amsterdam since 2022. Aetsveld is a residential area on the east side of the river Vecht. Homes for sale and homes for rent in Aetsveld. - Waterland: better than 51%
The dyke villages of Amsterdam-Noord, such as Durgerdam, Zunderdorp and Schellingwoude, around 2,400 residents together. Polder, water and little traffic. If you want to live here, look at the homes for sale and the odd home for rent. - Bloemendalerpolder: better than 40%
The new-build area west of Weesp, with neighbourhoods such as Lanenrijk, Leeuwenveld and Waterrijk. Around 6,900 residents, and growing. See the homes for sale and homes for rent. - Coenhaven/Minervahaven: better than 31%
A port area with around 1,800 residents. Few people live here, so little comes on the market: right now nothing is for sale or for rent. - Kadoelen: better than 29%
A quiet district of around 3,600 residents in Noord, next to the Twiske recreation area. There are homes for sale. - Omval/Overamstel: better than 24%
The Amstelkwartier and the area around the Weespertrekvaart, around 6,500 residents. The widest choice of these ten: plenty of homes for sale and homes for rent. - Lutkemeer/Ookmeer: better than 24%
The western edge of Nieuw-West, with around 1,300 residents. A few homes for sale are listed. - Weesp Binnenstad/Zuid: better than 23%
The historic centre of Weesp, around 5,700 residents. This is the only district in the top ten with enough reviews: three residents rate safety at 8.7 on average. They describe a quiet area where everyone keeps an eye on each other. See the homes for sale and homes for rent. - Prinses Irenebuurt en omgeving: better than 21%
A small district in Zuid near the Beatrixpark, around 1,400 residents. There are homes for sale and homes for rent.
Notice something? Almost all ten are on the edge of the municipality: in Weesp, in the polder of Noord, in the port area or on the far west side. The further from the centre, the quieter it gets.
Prefer a larger residential district?
Most districts in the top ten are small. If you want more choice, look at three large districts just below them. The Apollobuurt in Zuid (around 8,600 residents) does better than 21% of the Netherlands. The Oostelijk Havengebied (Eastern Docklands), with Java-eiland, Borneo and Sporenburg and around 20,800 residents, reaches 20%. Seven residents rate its safety at 8.3, and one calls it a safe area with many young families. Buitenveldert-West (around 14,200 residents) sits at 19%. All three have homes available: see the Apollobuurt, the Oostelijk Havengebied (also for rent) and Buitenveldert-West.
What residents feel
This is where it gets interesting. Residents also give their own safety score on Buurtje.nl. That score says something different from the Leefbaarometer: it is about how you feel in your own street, not how much is reported across the whole district. And sometimes the two are far apart.
| District | Leefbaarometer | Residents | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burgwallen-Oude Zijde | better than 0% | 9.3 | 4 |
| Scheldebuurt | better than 15% | 9.3 | 3 |
| Jordaan | better than 3% | 9.2 | 6 |
| Gein | better than 9% | 9.2 | 6 |
| Hoofdweg en omgeving | better than 1% | 9.0 | 5 |
| Noordelijke IJ-oevers-West | better than 11% | 8.8 | 5 |
| Amsterdamse Poort en omgeving | better than 0% | 8.7 | 7 |
| Slotermeer-Zuidoost | better than 1% | 4.7 | 3 |
The clearest example is the old centre around the Red Light District. On the Leefbaarometer, Burgwallen-Oude Zijde is among the lowest-scoring districts in the country. That makes sense: huge numbers of visitors come every day, and everything that happens there counts. Yet the four residents who reviewed it rate safety at 9.3. They do complain, but about noise and litter, not about feeling unsafe. You see the same pattern in the Jordaan and around the Hoofdweg in West.
The reverse happens too. In Slotermeer-Zuidoost, in Nieuw-West, residents rate safety at 4.7. One resident writes that children there are rude and that nobody steps in. There, the figures and the feeling agree.
With three to seven reviews per district, residents' scores are an impression, not a measurement. But they show you need both. The Leefbaarometer tells you what gets reported, residents tell you what it feels like to come home there at night.
So: is Amsterdam safe?
Compared with the rest of the Netherlands, Amsterdam scores low on nuisance and safety, especially in the centre and parts of Nieuw-West and Zuidoost. But residents of Amsterdam rate safety at 7.9 on average, which together with accessibility is their highest score. If you want real peace and quiet, you end up in Weesp, Waterland or Driemond. If you want to live in the city itself, read what the neighbours write.
Browse all homes for sale in Amsterdam and homes for rent in Amsterdam. Live in a district with few reviews so far? Rate your neighbourhood and tell others how safe you feel.
Sources: Leefbaarometer of the Ministry of the Interior (2025 district boundaries) and residents' reviews on Buurtje.nl, as of October 2026.
Want more? See the best-rated districts in Amsterdam, the districts where Amsterdammers are least satisfied or the safest districts in neighbouring Almere.
