Photo: LucasD · CC BY-SA 4.0Melle records drug use at 3.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
In sum, offenses police and gendarmerie recorded from 2023 to 2025 put Melle at C+ (#17 of 21 in Deux-Sèvres): more crime per resident than 62% of compared French towns. Police and gendarmerie recorded 25 cases of drug use locally in 2025, a rate of 4.3 per 1,000 against a typical 1.2. The crimes the grade counts held steady per resident from 2023 to 2025.
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 Melle
More violence than burglary, vehicle theft and damage
Melle recorded an average of 11.7 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, fewer than in 16% of compared French towns, and 12.3 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, fewer than in 62%. Safety Grade ↓
Counted where it happens
3,500 jobs are based in Melle, for 2,100 working residents. Offenses are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its number of residents, so a town people come into for work and shops records more per resident than one they leave. How to read it ↓
Among towns its size
Among the 1,400 French towns of 4,000 to 7,800 people with a Safety Grade, Melle is 1,015th 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 Melle’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 409 offenses recorded in the graded categories over three years; with a town of 5,752, a few cases more or fewer would move it between C and B−.
Hidden counts: for armed robbery 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, 1.3% 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 (4.3 per 1,000 against 1.2), sexual violence (3.1 per 1,000 against 1) and vehicle theft (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.7). Not published for 2025: armed robbery, 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.
Among 1,400 towns its size, Melle ranks 1,015th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mouguerre Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 5,428 | 0.8 | 5.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Aigondigné Deux-Sèvres | 4,710 | 3.4 | 5.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 191 | Aiffres Deux-Sèvres | 5,419 | 4.9 | 8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 260 | La Crèche Deux-Sèvres | 5,662 | 3.8 | 10 | A |
| … | |||||
| 321 | Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre Deux-Sèvres | 5,121 | 6.2 | 8.5 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 1012 | Bethoncourt Doubs | 5,308 | 10.6 | 13.4 | C+ |
| 1013 | Guémené-Penfao Loire-Atlantique | 5,243 | 7.3 | 16.7 | C+ |
| 1014 | Meyreuil Bouches-du-Rhône | 6,747 | 5 | 19 | C+ |
| 1015 | Melle Deux-Sèvres | 5,752 | 11.7 | 12.3 | C+ |
| 1016 | Trilport Seine-et-Marne | 5,146 | 9.5 | 14.5 | C+ |
| 1017 | Le Plessis-Belleville Oise | 4,009 | 6.6 | 17.5 | C+ |
| 1018 | Fontaines-sur-Saône Rhône | 6,957 | 6.2 | 17.8 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 1400 | Rungis Val-de-Marne | 5,611 | 19.3 | 44.6 | D− |
Per 1,000 residents a year. Context only: the grade compares Melle with every compared French town, not just towns its size.
Lowest rate in the graded categories first, 2023–2025 average, with the closest to Melle and up to four from Deux-Sèvres.
Roughly 12 recorded violent incidents a year per 1,000 people
Each dot is one resident’s share: offenses are counted, not victims, and one person can be the victim of several.
And 12 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, and 11 thefts without violence and frauds: a year, 2023–2025 average.
From 2023 to 2025, the graded categories held about level
Violence · per 1,000 residents
Burglary, vehicle theft, damage · per 1,000 residents
| Kind | In the grade | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family violence | Violence | 24 | 32 | 28 |
| Other physical violence | Violence | 26 | 22 | 23 |
| Sexual violence | Violence | 18 | 10 | 18 |
| Armed robbery | Violence | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Burglary | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 17 | 11 | 15 |
| Vehicle theft | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 8 | 7 | 13 |
| Theft from vehicles | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Criminal damage | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 46 | 47 | 44 |
| Theft without violence | Not in the grade | 33 | 33 | 39 |
| Robbery without a weapon | Not in the grade | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Theft of vehicle parts | Not in the grade | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Fraud | Not in the grade | 33 | 34 | 23 |
| Drug use | Not in the grade | n.p. | 38 | 25 |
| Drug dealing | Not in the grade | n.p. | 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).
Melle and the towns around it
| Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melle | 5,752 | 11.7 | 12.3 | C+ |
| Celles-sur-Belle | 3,829 | 4.7 | 6.3 | A+ |
| Aigondigné | 4,710 | 3.4 | 5.3 | A+ |
| Vouillé | 3,566 | —1 | —1 | —1 |
| La Crèche | 5,662 | 3.8 | 10 | A |
| Saint-Maixent-l'École | 7,595 | 18 | 18 | D |
| Aiffres | 5,419 | 4.9 | 8 | A |
1 Not graded: over 25% of the index would rest on département averages, where SSMSI doesn’t publish small counts.
4 of its 5 graded neighbors have a lower recorded rate in the graded categories than Melle.
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 Melle
Is Melle safe?
It has more crime per resident than 62% of compared French towns: an average of 11.7 recorded violent incidents and 12.3 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. It grades C+ for safety, #17 of 21 in Deux-Sèvres. Among the 1,400 French towns of 4,000 to 7,800 people, it is 1,015th from the lowest rate. With 3,500 jobs for 2,100 working residents, Melle 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 Melle?
The recorded rate in the graded categories held steady from 2023 to 2025: 24.5 per 1,000 residents in 2023, 24.8 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 Melle?
Criminal damage: 44 in 2025. Then theft without violence (39), family violence (28) and drug use (25).
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 November 4, 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.