Noord Area

Noord sits across the IJ from the centre, a former industrial and working-class district now changing fast around the NDSM wharf and the waterfront. With about 110.010 residents spread over the city's most open borough, it offers more space than anywhere else in Amsterdam, in exchange for the crossing into town.

It suits families and households who want space, water and a quieter pace and accept the ferry or metro into the centre. It works less well for those who want to be in the thick of city life.

Family-heavy, and less corporate-international

Noord is international but in a more grassroots way than the inner city, with about 33% of residents born abroad, weighted toward long-standing working-class communities rather than corporate expats.

It is the most family-oriented borough inside the city, with households raising children at around 29,8% of the total, the highest share in Amsterdam.

Households are the largest of the boroughs as a result, averaging about 2,0 people, and daily life is firmly residential, built around schools, parks and the water.

More affordable, with the most social housing

Noord is cheaper than the boroughs across the water, with an average home value near €434k, clearly below the inner city. For a long time the IJ acted as a psychological barrier that kept prices down, but the ferries and the metro line have steadily eroded that gap as more people discover how quick the crossing actually is.

It is mostly rented, at about 68% of homes, and social housing is the largest share of any borough, at roughly 53%, a legacy of the post-war estates.

It also has more low-rise housing than anywhere else in the city, with apartments at about 70% of the stock, the lowest share in Amsterdam, so houses with a bit of ground are genuinely findable here.

The fastest-building borough in the city

Noord is transforming faster than anywhere else, with resident numbers up about 2.9% since 2023 and business activity up about +9.4% as the waterfront fills in.

Construction leads the change: the housing stock is up about 3.9%, and new-build is the highest share in the city, at about 20% of homes.

The shift is toward space and calm rather than density, with the green-and-quiet appeal moving by 0.0 as the new districts add homes without losing the open feel.

From the NDSM waterfront to the garden villages

The borough has two faces. The Noordelijke IJ-oevers around the NDSM wharf are the creative, fast-developing waterfront, drawing studios and new flats, and the borough's cultural pull shows in its roughly 3.270 culture and recreation businesses.

Behind the water sit the quieter residential districts: Tuindorp Oostzaan and Nieuwendam are leafy garden villages, while Buikslotermeer, Banne Buiksloot and Waterlandpleinbuurt are the post-war estates, spread across the city's least dense borough at about 7.150 residents per square kilometre.

These calmer parts are where families settle and where ownership is most realistic, though borough-wide owner-occupiers are still a minority at about 31%.

Open and green, but a crossing from the centre

Noord is mostly residential, with around 19.855 businesses serving local needs plus the creative cluster on the waterfront, rather than a major job market. Most working residents commute across the IJ, and the borough's own economy leans on the media companies, festivals and hospitality that have grown up around the NDSM wharf.

The pay-off for the distance is room: living space per resident is by far the highest in the city, at about 267 m²/p.

It is the most car-friendly borough, around 0,6 cars per household, because the layout is open and the centre is reached by ferry or metro rather than on foot.

Frequently asked questions