Living · portrait by municipality
Living in Ostend: what the figures say
Flanders · West Flanders · official figures
In brief
- Ostend has 72,586 inhabitants over 37.7 km², that is 1,924 per km².
- Over five years, the municipality gained residents (+1.5%).
- Police record 101.1 offences per 1,000 residents here. That is 102% more than a typical Belgian municipality (50.1).
- Median income: €27,643 per tax return (half earn more, half earn less). That is +38% compared with Belgium.
- On average, 1,840 hours of sunshine and 801 mm of rain a year (RMI, 1991 to 2020). A typical Belgian municipality: 1,703 h and 837 mm.
Sources: Statbel, Federal Police and OpenStreetMap. Immolytics computes the scores out of 100.
Flanders
Where Ostend is in Belgium
The municipality scored out of 100
We count stops, schools, shops and parks.
What does a home cost in Ostend?
Sale prices at the notary in the first half of 2026, all houses together. The median price splits sales in two: half above, half below.
Who lives here?
Age distribution
Income and jobs
Tax pressure : 20.9 %
How many offences do the police record here?
The number of offences police recorded, per 1,000 residents.
Offences recorded by the police in 2024
101.1
recorded offences per 1,000 residents
Well above medianThis figure counts the offences recorded on the municipality's territory, divided by the number of residents. Towns that receive commuters, shoppers and visitors every day come out higher, because offences against them are counted although they do not live there. It is therefore not a measure of the risk to a resident, which is why we do not give a safety score.
Source: Belgian Federal Police, police crime statistics, offences recorded in 2024 by place of offence. Population: Statbel.
Schools and transport
The schools and stops actually in the municipality.
Schools
Total schools
37
School density
5.1
per 10,000 pop.
Source: FASE 2026 (Wallonia-Brussels Federation) and Onderwijs Vlaanderen
Public Transport
Total stops
229
Transit density
31.6
stops per 10,000 pop.
Source: GTFS Belgium, SNCB, De Lijn, TEC, STIB (CC BY 4.0)
Climate of Ostend
RMI normals for 1991-2020, each set against the median Belgian municipality.
Last frost on average on 7 April, first frost on 20 November; growing season from 14 May to 13 October.
Source: RMI (Royal Meteorological Institute), climate statistics of Belgian municipalities, reference period 1991-2020. RMI sheet for the municipality (PDF, in French)
What about nearby municipalities?
For each one: the median house price and the overall score.
More about Ostend
Frequently asked questions
Sources: Statbel for population, households, incomes and prices. Federal Police for safety, Community registers for schools. Transport operators' timetables for buses and trains, OpenStreetMap for the scores. These are figures, not an opinion.
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