In general, the Netherlands is a rich country with a very controlled and equal economy besides following the free-market model. According to World Atlas rankings, the 8th richest country in Europe. So, where do the rich people from the country have chosen to live?
- Utrecht (Utrecht)
- Amsterdam (North-Holland)
- The Hague (South-Holland)
- Bloemendal (North-Holland)
- Blaricum (North-Holland)
- Larum (North-Holland)
- Wassenaar (South-Holland)
- Rozendaal (Gelderland)
- Amstelveen (North-Holland)
- De Bilt (Utrecht)
North-Holland, South-Holland and Utrecht are the three richest provinces out of the 12 provinces in the Netherlands. There are, however, specific towns besides the capitals of the provinces where properties are more expensive and therefore the demand for wealthy people to live in those towns and cities is even higher. If you want to know more about it, keep reading!
Richest Cities in the Netherlands
I believe everybody’s guess would be Amsterdam is the chosen place for rich people to live, and it not completely wrong, but Amsterdam is the chosen place by everybody to live in, not only the wealthy.
The richest provinces are the provinces with the biggest cities in the country, North-Holland, where Amsterdam is located, South-Holland, where Rotterdam and The Hague are located, and Utrecht, where the city of Utrecht is located. However, besides these cities being very wealthy, there are towns and smaller cities in their area that are current favourites for people who work in these areas to live.
Answering the question: the richest cities in the Netherlands to living in are the ones close to the biggest cities, making easier to commute to work in those big companies and organisations that are in the bigger and populated areas, but living in a more spacious and exclusive area.
A way of calculating where the wealthiest citizens in the Netherlands is considering:
- House Prices
- Private Schools
- Biggest Companies
- Embassies
- Income
- Etc
It is important to know that all the data considered to indicate this is not exclusive to Dutch people but also many ex-pats and politicians or company owners from other countries that reside in the Netherlands or have a second residence in some of these cities. For finding most of this information, CBS is the place to go for statistics and official information.
House Prices
Once again, according to CBS and the Ranking made by ExpatInfo, the cities where properties are the most expensive in the whole country are:
| RANK | CITY | AVG HOME PRICE |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bloemendaal | €831,578 |
| 2 | Blaricum | €775,909 |
| 3 | Laren | €768,056 |
| 4 | Wassenaar | €711,264 |
| 5 | Rozendaal | €667,428 |
| 6 | Heemstede | €626,574 |
| 7 | Amstelveen | €525,427 |
In this table, we can observe 7 of the wealthiest communities (in 2019) in the Netherlands. It is worth noticing that these areas don’t have more than 20k citizens each (with the exception of Amstelveen, because among the most expensive ones is the cheapest) and that all of them, except Rozendaal (which is in Gelderland), are in North-Holland and South-Holland.
What we can know for sure is that these two provinces are the favourite ones for wealthier citizens who live in the Netherlands.
It is important to consider that some of the most expensive houses in the Netherlands are the canal houses, which are almost never on sale, prices are skyrocket. The average price according to Funda to buy a property in the centre of Amsterdam is between half a million and 3 million euros.
The most expensive houses in Amsterdam are in Nieuwemarkt, Singelgracht, Prinsengracht, the Red Light District, Vondelpark and Keizergracht. Most of these properties belong to either companies or have been inherited by family members. If you want to know more about the history of these buildings, read this.
Private Schools
Another factor to consider in order to know where wealthy people live in the Netherlands is to know where private schools are. In the Netherlands, these schools are not that common and they are really expensive.
Since all stages of education are subsidised by the Government to EVERYBODY only people with a very high income consider private schools. The highest concentration of these are in the areas of:
- The Hague: the city of diplomatics, kings and NGOs is the one with the highest number of private schools. Among these, we can find The American School of the Hague, The International School of the Hague, The British School in the Netherlands, Zein Child Care Group – The International School of The Hague, HSV International Primary School and many more.
- Amsterdam: an international city with all the possible options, counting with the International School of Amsterdam, Japanese School of Amsterdam, United International Business Schools (UIBS), etc.
- Utrecht: International School Utrecht, University College Utrecht, etc.
- Delft: International School Delft
- Haarlem
- Amstelveen
Biggest Companies & Embassies
Besides a couple of companies such as Phillips in Eindhoven or Gas Terra in Groningen, the biggest companies in the Netherlands are in the provinces and big cities we have been mentioning as the chosen ones by wealthy citizens to live in. Some examples are:
- The Hague: Shell (the biggest Dutch company and one of the biggest European ones), Aegon (insurance), NN Group (insurance)…
- Amsterdam: ING (the biggest Dutch bank has its biggest headquarter in the centre of Amsterdam), Oracle, Heineken, Exor (finance)
- Rotterdam: Unilever, etc
- Zaandam: Ahold Delhaiz (company ownership of AH supermarkets, Etos, Gall and Gall and many others),
- Utrecht: Rabobank (bank headquarter), SHV holdings (investors of big companies)…
Moreover, most of the biggest and most successful companies are located in the same cities we keep mentioning. It is also important to consider that in The Hague there are over 100 embassies, but also NGOs and other organisations that are also an important focus for founding and wealthy environments.
Income
It is important to consider that the Netherlands has a minimum salary according to the age, type of job and hours worked that is one of the highest in Europe. Therefore, it is considered a wealthy country, in Europe and in the world.
Taking that into consideration, once again, more than where you live, the income you perceive is more related to your job and not the city. However, according to your jobs are:
- Pilots: they are one of the best paid, and you can live wherever you want but considering the biggest airport in the country is in Schiphol, most likely they live in the area of Amsterdam.
- Minister: this is more likely to be The Hague, by default, Amsterdam or cities in the Randstad.
- Other professions also well-paid such as dentist, doctor, lawyers and so on are common in all the country, which makes it hard to locate in only one city.
Extra Information: Important to Know
Since we are considering all the options to find out where do the wealthiest Dutch citizens live, we should also consider other important factors and why what we expected to be the chosen place to live by wealthier people is not really what we thought:
Rotterdam’s exception
Since we have been mentioning that the bigger cities in the Netherlands are the wealthiest, it is also important to highlight that Rotterdam is not one remotely as wealthy as the Hague and surroundings, Amsterdam and surroundings and Utrecht and surroundings.
It is not one of the main cities for companies to establish their main headquarters and it is mostly an immigrant city, where less highly paid professions are practised.
Municipalities are not cities
As I was mentioning before, the wealthiest people don’t necessarily live in the cities where they work but also in the suburbia and other towns in the area. Remember that the list of the highest rent were all small towns around the cities we mentioned about: Utrecht, Amsterdam and The Hague.
Poorest Provinces to Live In
The lowest income is perceived in the provinces of Groningen (in the north of the country), Wageningen, Enschede and Nijmegen (eastern provinces). These regions are more oriented to farming and other professions that are not as well-retributed as those practised in the biggest cities in the Randstad.
These provinces have many small towns and as much as they are the poorest, like everybody in the country, they have their own home, Government help, private insurance, jobs, schools and universities and the minimum salary of 1.635,60 euros per month, one of the highest of Europe.
If you want to know more about the more socialist measures taken by the Dutch Government, I invite you to read: Is the Netherlands Socialist or Capitalist?
Conclusion: Where the Wealthy Live
All in all, we can say that it is easy to understand that the wealthiest people are where the highest salaries are paid and the biggest companies operate. This happens to be the same place where the highest number of private and expensive education happens and where the most expensive properties are located.
Utrecht, Amsterdam and The Hague are the cities where the wealthiest people in the Netherlands live, whereas they are not the only ones. Other smaller cities around these three big ones are also home for the richer people in the Netherlands:
- Bloemendal, Larum, Amstelveen, etc are around Amsterdam.
- De Bilt is in Utrecht
- Delft next to The Hague
