Photo: Anonymous Unknown author · Public domainEspalion records less crime per resident than almost every compared French town
In a usual year, 3.4 violent crimes and 3.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle theft and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants. It has less violent crime than 89% of compared French towns, and less burglary, vehicle theft and damage than 100%. Add to that, on offenses police and gendarmerie recorded in Espalion from 2023 to 2025, it grades A+ for safety: #1 of 14 in Aveyron.
Offenses recorded per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average (INSEE population of each year). Violence, and burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and criminal damage, count equally.
What stands out about safety in Espalion
Among towns its size
Among the 1,563 French towns of 3,200 to 6,200 people with a Safety Grade, Espalion is 5th from the lowest recorded rate per resident. Towns its size ↓
Written from the SSMSI and INSEE data on this page. Figures are offenses police and gendarmerie recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Espalion’s grade
A less sure grade than most. Built on 79 offenses recorded in the graded categories over three years; with a town of 4,605, a few cases more or fewer would move it between A+ and A+. 18.2% of the index uses the département’s average for crimes not published here, over 10%.
Hidden counts: for other physical violence, sexual violence, burglary, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, this figure isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the index uses the département’s average instead, 18.2% of the index here. What isn’t published ↓
Per resident, against the 4,295 compared French towns with a Safety Grade.
What police and gendarmerie recorded most in 2025
Well above the median of towns its size: drug use (7.6 per 1,000 against 1.2). None recorded in 2025: armed robbery. Not published for 2025: other physical violence, sexual violence, burglary, vehicle theft, theft from vehicles, robbery without a weapon, theft of vehicle parts and drug dealing.
Theft without violence, robbery without a weapon, theft of vehicle parts, fraud and drug offenses are shown for information but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence plus burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and criminal damage per resident.
Per 1,000 residents in 2025; the tick is the median of the graded French towns of 2,500 to 10,000.
Espalion is 5th of 1,563 French towns of 3,200 to 6,200 people
| # | Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mouguerre Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 5,428 | 0.8 | 5.5 | A+ |
| 2 | Bricquebec-en-Cotentin Manche | 5,893 | 1.9 | 4.8 | A+ |
| 3 | Fontenilles Haute-Garonne | 5,906 | 1.3 | 5.5 | A+ |
| 4 | Neuilly-Crimolois Côte-d'Or | 3,588 | 2.2 | 4.8 | A+ |
| 5 | Espalion Aveyron | 4,605 | 3.4 | 3.6 | A+ |
| 6 | Brie Charente | 4,125 | 1.2 | 5.8 | A+ |
| 7 | Saint-Nabord Vosges | 3,953 | 1.7 | 5.6 | A+ |
| 8 | Octeville-sur-Mer Seine-Maritime | 6,172 | 1.8 | 5.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 29 | Aubin Aveyron | 3,444 | 2.7 | 6.1 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 52 | Luc-la-Primaube Aveyron | 6,046 | 2.3 | 7.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 90 | Olemps Aveyron | 3,559 | 4.3 | 6.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 591 | Sévérac d'Aveyron Aveyron | 4,026 | 6.5 | 9.5 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 1563 | Saint-Tropez Var | 3,582 | 24.8 | 53.3 | D− |
Per 1,000 residents a year. Context only: the grade compares Espalion with every compared French town, not just towns its size.
Lowest rate in the graded categories first, 2023–2025 average, with the closest to Espalion and up to four from Aveyron.
Crime in Espalion per 1,000 residents
Each dot is one resident’s share: offenses are counted, not victims, and one person can be the victim of several.
And 4 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, and 10 thefts without violence and frauds: a year, 2023–2025 average.
The recorded rate in the graded categories held steady from 2023 to 2025
Violence · per 1,000 residents
Burglary, vehicle theft, damage · per 1,000 residents
| Kind | In the grade | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family violence | Violence | 9 | 7 | 17 |
| Other physical violence | Violence | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Sexual violence | Violence | 7 | n.p. | n.p. |
| Armed robbery | Violence | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burglary | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Vehicle theft | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Theft from vehicles | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Criminal damage | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 15 | 12 | 12 |
| Theft without violence | Not in the grade | 27 | 13 | 16 |
| Robbery without a weapon | Not in the grade | 0 | n.p. | n.p. |
| Theft of vehicle parts | Not in the grade | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Fraud | Not in the grade | 30 | 27 | 25 |
| Drug use | Not in the grade | 27 | 29 | 35 |
| Drug dealing | Not in the grade | 7 | n.p. | n.p. |
Counts mix units, as SSMSI publishes them: victims for violence, offenses for burglary and damage, vehicles for vehicle theft. That’s why the page never adds them into one “total crimes”.
Offenses recorded each year. n.p.: not published (small: five or fewer in at least one of the last three years).
Espalion and the towns around it
| Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espalion | 4,605 | 3.4 | 3.6 | A+ |
| Bozouls | 3,001 | —1 | —1 | —1 |
| Sébazac-Concourès | 3,234 | —1 | —1 | —1 |
| Onet-le-Château | 12,080 | 5.7 | 8.4 | A |
| Rodez | 23,981 | 9.6 | 15.1 | C+ |
| Olemps | 3,559 | 4.3 | 6.3 | A+ |
| Druelle Balsac | 3,187 | 4.3 | 3.6 | A+ |
1 Not graded: over 25% of the index would rest on département averages, where SSMSI doesn’t publish small counts.
Espalion’s recorded rate in the graded categories is lower than each of its 4 graded neighbors’.
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where offenses happen, not where victims live. SSMSI counts each offense in the commune where police or gendarmerie recorded it happening. Towns with shops, stations, a hospital or nightlife record more per resident, and visitors are part of that count but not of the population it is divided by.
- An index, not a total. The kinds are counted in different units (victims, offenses, vehicles), so the grade adds their rates per 1,000 residents into an index and never shows a “total crimes” or a chance of being a victim.
- Hidden counts. SSMSI doesn’t publish a commune’s count when it’s small (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years). In its place it gives the average among the département’s communes whose count is hidden; the grade uses that average, never zero, and a town gets no Safety Grade when over a quarter of its index would come from such averages.
- Recorded, not all crime. Only offenses reported to or found by police and gendarmerie are counted. Reporting rates differ by kind: most vehicle thefts are reported, much family and sexual violence isn’t.
Questions about safety in Espalion
Is Espalion safe?
It has less crime per resident than 100% of compared French towns: an average of 3.4 recorded violent incidents and 3.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. It grades A+ for safety, #1 of 14 in Aveyron. Among the 1,563 French towns of 3,200 to 6,200 people, it is 5th from the lowest rate. With 2,400 jobs for 1,800 working residents, Espalion draws people from neighboring communes, and crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its number of residents.
Is crime going up in Espalion?
The recorded rate in the graded categories held steady from 2023 to 2025: 7.8 per 1,000 residents in 2023, 7.7 in 2025. In a town this size a few dozen cases move the figure, so the grade uses the three-year average.
What is the most common recorded offense in Espalion?
Drug use: 35 in 2025, shown for information, not in the grade. Then fraud (25), family violence (17) and theft without violence (16).
Sources: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 (base communale de la délinquance enregistrée, 2026 edition) · INSEE, legal populations for each year · INSEE, census 2023 (jobs and working residents) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking French towns against each other only, updated October 30, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.