Skip to content
OnderdeMuur.nl

Municipality

Living in Rotterdam

Much of Rotterdam lies below sea level, on clay and peat. The old centre was bombed in May 1940 and rebuilt after the war, so the centre has relatively many newer buildings.

In pre-war neighbourhoods such as Delfshaven, the Oude Noorden and Kralingen, many homes stand on wooden piles. The chance of foundation problems is higher there than in post-war reconstruction areas and new builds.

Check an address in Rotterdam

Rotterdam in numbers

Residents
673,804
figure from 2026
Average home value (WOZ)
€342,000
Netherlands: €398,000figure from 2025
Owner-occupied homes
35%
Netherlands: 57%figure from 2025
Households with children
29%
Netherlands: 31%figure from 2026
Distance to GP
0.7 km
Netherlands: 1.1 kmfigure from 2025
Distance to large supermarket
0.6 km
Netherlands: 1 kmfigure from 2025

Foundations in Rotterdam

54% of the 205,459 buildings in Rotterdam were built before 1970. In the west and north of the Netherlands, homes from that period often stand on wooden piles.

54% of the buildings are on soft soil or in an urban area in the west or north and date from before 1970. For those, our check shows ‘Needs attention’.

Soil under the buildings

  • Soft soil (peat, clay)

    62% of buildings · 45% of those from before 1970

  • City, soil not classified

    38% of buildings · 69% of those from before 1970

Foundation map of Rotterdam

Indicative areas of concern for foundation problems: the share of buildings from before 1970 per postcode area, coloured by soil type. Zoom in or out to explore.

Noise in Rotterdam

In half of the 76 neighbourhoods, daytime noise is 53 dB or less. In 43% of neighbourhoods it is 55 dB or more, a level many people find annoying.

Quietest neighbourhoods

  1. Strand en Duin33 dB
  2. Oud Charlois44 dB
  3. Nesselande45 dB

Noisiest neighbourhoods

  1. Oude Noorden74 dB
  2. Zuidwijk70 dB
  3. Stadsdriehoek69 dB

Air quality in Rotterdam

Half of the neighbourhoods have a nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) level of 19.4 µg/m³ or less. The WHO guideline is 10; the European limit from 2030 is 20.

Cleanest air

  1. Nesselande14.4 µg/m³
  2. Strand en Duin14.6 µg/m³
  3. Schiebroek15.4 µg/m³

Most nitrogen dioxide

  1. Stadsdriehoek24.6 µg/m³
  2. Oude Noorden24.2 µg/m³
  3. Cool24.2 µg/m³

Noise and air quality per neighbourhood are taken at the centre point of the neighbourhood. Next to busy roads in the same neighbourhood it can differ. Check an address for the value at that spot.

Sources: RVO/KCAF (2019), RIVM noise (2022) and air quality (2024), CBS Kerncijfers wijken en buurten. Aggregated on October 12, 2026.