American migration to the Netherlands is climbing even as the country takes in fewer newcomers overall. US citizens added a net 2,800 residents in the first nine months of 2026, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported Oct. 30. That's up from 2,100 over the same months last year, a jump of about a third.
Almost everything else moved the other way. The country grew by roughly 62,500 people from January through September, its weakest showing for that stretch since 2020, largely because far fewer Syrians arrived. Immigration from the rest of the EU didn't budge.
Since the 2024 election, stories about Americans moving to the Netherlands have mostly run on anecdotes and spikes in relocation inquiries. These are the Dutch government's own numbers.
Where the US ranks in the Dutch data
Only five countries added more net residents than the US, which lands sixth on the CBS top-10 list. Net migration is arrivals minus departures. It measures who stayed, not who showed up.
There's a catch in the "doubled since 2024" headlines making the rounds this week. The same nine months in 2023 also produced a net gain of 2,100, so 2024 looks like a dip rather than a baseline. Even so, 2026 is the strongest of the four years CBS published, though its figures are still preliminary.
Who are the Americans going to the Netherlands?
Mostly people in the middle of their careers. About 43.6% of US citizens in the country are 30 to 49, and another 23.7% are 15 to 29, Eurostat data shows. Retirees barely register at 7.1%.
Family ties bring in the largest share, 35% of American arrivals. Jobs account for 31% and study for 29%, so the flow splits almost evenly three ways.
Core counts for Americans in the Netherlands:
US citizens (2024): 26,110
US-born residents (2024): 44,381
US-citizen arrivals (2025): 7,339, up 9% from 6,732
Long-term residence permits (2025): 6,117, down from 6,734
Naturalizations of US-born residents (2024): 599
The citizen and US-born figures count different groups, so they don't add together.
Arrivals are high but many Americans don't stay
Plenty of Americans land in the Netherlands. Fewer stick around. The 7,339 arrivals recorded in 2025 far outpace the 2,100 net gain CBS logged for the first nine months of that year, so a big share of each year's newcomers leave again.
Permits tell a similar story. Long-term residence permits fell about 9% in 2025 even as arrivals climbed. Citizenship is a harder step still: it takes five years of residence, and the Netherlands accepts dual citizenship with the US only in limited cases, so naturalizing usually means giving up a US passport.
The tax break behind many job moves is shrinking
Workers recruited from abroad often get the 30% ruling, a tax perk that lets Dutch employers pay part of their salary tax-free. That share drops to 27% on Jan. 1, 2027, and the salary floor rises to €50,436 ($57,500), the Netherlands Enterprise Agency says. Anyone who started on the ruling in 2024 or later moves to the lower rate.
Entrepreneurs have their own door. Under the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty, signed in 1956, US citizens can get a self-employment residence permit more easily than most other nationalities.
What the data does and doesn't show about American migration to the Netherlands
The CBS figures say how many Americans stayed. They can't say why they came, which visa they used or whether they plan to settle for good.
And the year isn't over. Fourth-quarter numbers will decide whether 2026 actually finishes ahead of 2025. The bigger test comes later, once Dutch data starts capturing Americans hired under the smaller tax break.
