Photo: Nikolay Tarkhov · Public domainOrsay has more burglary, vehicle theft and damage per resident than 81% of compared French towns
Theft of vehicle parts stands out: 2.8 per 1,000 residents in Orsay, against 1.3 in a typical town its size, with 46 recorded in 2025. Overall, Orsay grades C for safety (#64 of 91 in Essonne): more crime per resident than 72% of compared French towns, on offenses police and gendarmerie recorded from 2023 to 2025. Violence and property crime split as 6.8 violent crimes and 19.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle theft and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
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 Orsay
Less violence than burglary, vehicle theft and damage
Orsay recorded an average of 6.8 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, fewer than in 52% of compared French towns, and 19.9 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, fewer than in 19%. Safety Grade ↓
Among towns its size
Among the 463 French towns of 11,500 to 22,300 people with a Safety Grade, Orsay is 232nd 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 Orsay’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 1,318 offenses recorded in the graded categories over three years; with a town of 16,498, a few cases more or fewer would move it between C and C.
Hidden counts: for armed robbery, 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, 0.4% 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: theft of vehicle parts (2.8 per 1,000 against 1.3), burglary (5.8 per 1,000 against 2.9) and theft without violence (11 per 1,000 against 7). Not published for 2025: armed robbery 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 10,000 to 50,000.
Crime in Orsay 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 20 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, and 18 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 | 46 | 42 | 48 |
| Other physical violence | Violence | 36 | 43 | 36 |
| Sexual violence | Violence | 27 | 30 | 25 |
| Armed robbery | Violence | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Burglary | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 114 | 113 | 95 |
| Vehicle theft | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 39 | 48 | 34 |
| Theft from vehicles | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 42 | 79 | 51 |
| Criminal damage | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 119 | 119 | 132 |
| Theft without violence | Not in the grade | 183 | 184 | 181 |
| Robbery without a weapon | Not in the grade | 10 | 14 | 6 |
| Theft of vehicle parts | Not in the grade | 28 | 42 | 46 |
| Fraud | Not in the grade | 123 | 101 | 118 |
| Drug use | Not in the grade | 27 | 41 | 50 |
| 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).
Among 463 towns its size, Orsay ranks 232nd for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montrevault-sur-Èvre Maine-et-Loire | 15,726 | 5 | 8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 63 | Saint-Pierre-du-Perray Essonne | 11,993 | 6.1 | 13.7 | B |
| … | |||||
| 67 | Épinay-sous-Sénart Essonne | 11,611 | 9.3 | 10.7 | B |
| … | |||||
| 102 | Mennecy Essonne | 16,433 | 11 | 10.4 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 122 | Saint-Germain-lès-Arpajon Essonne | 11,623 | 5 | 17.1 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 229 | Vire Normandie Calvados | 17,457 | 13.7 | 12.8 | C |
| 230 | Lagny-sur-Marne Seine-et-Marne | 21,461 | 8 | 18.5 | C |
| 231 | Ferney-Voltaire Ain | 12,094 | 8.7 | 17.8 | C |
| 232 | Orsay Essonne | 16,498 | 6.8 | 19.9 | C |
| 233 | Valenton Val-de-Marne | 14,406 | 10 | 16.8 | C |
| 234 | Flers Orne | 14,432 | 10.7 | 16.2 | C |
| 235 | Villeneuve-le-Roi Val-de-Marne | 21,000 | 8.5 | 18.4 | C |
| … | |||||
| 463 | Paris 1er Paris | 15,114 | 45.5 | 67.1 | D− |
Per 1,000 residents a year. Context only: the grade compares Orsay with every compared French town, not just towns its size.
Lowest rate in the graded categories first, 2023–2025 average, with the closest to Orsay and up to four from Essonne.
Orsay and the towns around it
| Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orsay | 16,498 | 6.8 | 19.9 | C |
| Les Ulis | 25,886 | 10.1 | 14.5 | C+ |
| Bures-sur-Yvette | 9,548 | 6.3 | 19.3 | C |
| Villebon-sur-Yvette | 10,291 | 7.2 | 23.2 | C− |
| Villejust | 2,558 | 3.8 | 22.5 | C |
| Gometz-le-Châtel | 2,630 | 4.2 | 13.1 | B+ |
| Palaiseau | 37,471 | 6.8 | 15.9 | C+ |
5 of its 6 graded neighbors have a lower recorded rate in the graded categories than Orsay.
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 Orsay
Is Orsay safe?
It has more crime per resident than 72% of compared French towns: an average of 6.8 recorded violent incidents and 19.9 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, #64 of 91 in Essonne. Among the 463 French towns of 11,500 to 22,300 people, it is 232nd from the lowest rate. With 10,400 jobs for 7,500 working residents, Orsay 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 Orsay?
The recorded rate in the graded categories held steady from 2023 to 2025: 25.7 per 1,000 residents in 2023, 25.6 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 Orsay?
Theft without violence: 181 in 2025, shown for information, not in the grade. Then criminal damage (132), fraud (118) and burglary (95).
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.