The average standardised household income for 2015 was virtually the same as for 2014. Income rose during most of the period 1995–2008, except between 2001 and 2005 when the economy deteriorated. Due to the recent economic crisis, income fell in each year between 2008 and 2013 (aside from a trend break in 2011). Household expenditure (adjusted for inflation) rose from nearly 30 thousand euros in 1995 to 34 thousand euros in 2015.

Average household spending amounted to 34 thousand euros in 2015. Over 31 percent was spent on housing costs. Households with a main breadwinner between the ages of 45 and 64 had the highest spending, as these are generally the largest households with an average size of 2.4 persons.The youngest households, with an average size of 1.4 persons also the smallest households, spent the least.

In 2015, nearly 9 percent of households (626 thousand) had to survive on an income below the low-income threshold, facing the risk of poverty. This percentage is slightly lower than in 2013 but higher than in 2011. The risk of poverty was reduced among young and old between 2013 and 2015 while it remained unchanged among 25 to 64-year-olds. In 2015, 3.3 percent of households had been on a low income for at least four years.

Median household wealth in the Netherlands picked up again in 2015 for the first time since the outbreak of the economic crisis in 2008. The total net worth of households – for example total assets minus total liabilities – increased, mainly as a result of rising house prices. If people’s own homes are left out of the equation, net worth in 2015 was just as high as in 2014.

In the period 2011–2015, the home ownership rate declined among the youngest age group (the under-25s) as well as in the age group 25 to 44 years. The economic crisis posed obstacles for (first-time) home buyers. However, home ownership did increase among households with a main breadwinner aged 65 or older, up to 50 percent in 2015. This is mainly due to the influx of post-war baby-boomers into the group of over-65s, as they are often already home-owners.

In 2015, home owners in Rozendaal (Gelderland province)had the highest average mortgage debt nationwide at 295 thousand euros. Average mortgage debt was more than 250 thousand euros as well in Laren and Bloemendaal (Noord-Holland) and Wassenaar (Zuid-Holland). Mortgage debts are lowest in Delfzijl (Groningen) at 110.5 thousand euros. Municipalities with low average mortgage debt levels are mostly located in the border regions of the Netherlands, in the provinces of Groningen, Friesland, Limburg and Zeeland. In these regions, average house prices as well as average household income and capital are lower than elsewhere in the Netherlands.