Education in Zoetermeer, Netherlands: official figures

30.8% of residents aged 15 to 74 in Zoetermeer held a higher professional (hbo) or university degree in 2024, below the national figure of 33.3%; that is 7th lowest among the 31 large municipalities covered here, up from 29.2% in 2019.

How Zoetermeer compares with other cities in the Netherlands

Residents aged 15 to 74 with higher education (hbo or university) (%) (2024)

Zoetermeer ranks 25 of 31, highest first. Heerlen-Kerkrade is shown with figures for the municipality of Heerlen.

Residents aged 15 to 74 whose highest level is primary, vmbo or mbo-1 (%) (2024)

Zoetermeer ranks 12 of 31, highest first. Heerlen-Kerkrade is shown with figures for the municipality of Heerlen.

Resident hbo and university students per 1,000 residents (2025)

Zoetermeer ranks 23 of 31, highest first. Heerlen-Kerkrade is shown with figures for the municipality of Heerlen.

Average road distance to a havo/vwo secondary school (km) (2024)

Zoetermeer ranks 14 of 31, highest first. Heerlen-Kerkrade is shown with figures for the municipality of Heerlen.

Higher education students per 1,000 residents (2024)

Zoetermeer ranks 23 of 29, highest first.

More on Zoetermeer: overview · economy and jobs · health · poverty and living standards · all cities in the Netherlands

Sources

• Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS): Regionale kerncijfers Nederland (table 70072ned): provinces, COROP areas and selected municipalities, 2014-2026, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d2b63aac3a26…)
• Eurostat: Eurostat dataset urb_ceduc: Urban Audit: education (cities), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 af187c7040a4…)

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