Photo: Sylvain Machefert · CC BY-SA 4.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Bruges than in 91% of compared French towns
It places 335th of the 388 compared French towns nearest in size, the least crime first. On top of that, on offenses police and gendarmerie recorded in Bruges from 2023 to 2025, it grades D for safety: #84 of 100 in Gironde. Per resident, the graded crimes were up 12% from 2023 to 2025. Annual rates stand at 7.6 violent crimes and 27.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle theft and damage for every thousand residents.
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 Bruges
Other physical violence fell sharply
Police and gendarmerie recorded 52 cases of other physical violence in Bruges in 2023 and 30 in 2025. Small counts swing from year to year; the grade averages the three years. Year by year ↓
Less violence than burglary, vehicle theft and damage
Bruges recorded an average of 7.6 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, fewer than in 45% of compared French towns, and 27.9 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, fewer than in 4%. Safety Grade ↓
Among towns its size
Among the 388 French towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people with a Safety Grade, Bruges is 335th 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 Bruges’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 2,125 offenses recorded in the graded categories over three years; with a town of 20,020, a few cases more or fewer would move it between D and D.
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, 0.1% 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 from vehicles (11.6 per 1,000 against 2.6) and robbery without a weapon (0.5 per 1,000 against 0.3). 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.
Set against 388 towns its size, Bruges is 335th
| # | Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montrevault-sur-Èvre Maine-et-Loire | 15,726 | 5 | 8 | A |
| … | |||||
| 26 | Gujan-Mestras Gironde | 22,153 | 6.6 | 11.6 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 143 | Cestas Gironde | 16,666 | 5.2 | 20.1 | C |
| … | |||||
| 213 | Gradignan Gironde | 26,952 | 8.1 | 19.8 | C |
| … | |||||
| 220 | Ambarès-et-Lagrave Gironde | 17,644 | 10.7 | 17.3 | C |
| … | |||||
| 332 | Mitry-Mory Seine-et-Marne | 20,456 | 8.4 | 26.5 | D |
| 333 | Sainte-Rose Guadeloupe | 17,700 | 13 | 22.1 | D |
| 334 | Mauguio Hérault | 16,522 | 7.1 | 28.2 | D |
| 335 | Bruges Gironde | 20,020 | 7.6 | 27.9 | D |
| 336 | Le Raincy Seine-Saint-Denis | 14,735 | 10.1 | 25.4 | D |
| 337 | Le Bourget Seine-Saint-Denis | 15,925 | 13.9 | 21.7 | D |
| 338 | Saumur Maine-et-Loire | 26,241 | 12.6 | 23 | D |
| … | |||||
| 388 | Marseille 2e Bouches-du-Rhône | 24,378 | 20.1 | 103.2 | D− |
Per 1,000 residents a year. Context only: the grade compares Bruges with every compared French town, not just towns its size.
Lowest rate in the graded categories first, 2023–2025 average, with the closest to Bruges and up to four from Gironde.
Crime in Bruges 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 28 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, and 14 thefts without violence and frauds: a year, 2023–2025 average.
Bruges, year by year
Violence · per 1,000 residents
Burglary, vehicle theft, damage · per 1,000 residents
| Kind | In the grade | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family violence | Violence | 78 | 90 | 72 |
| Other physical violence | Violence | 52 | 34 | 30 |
| Sexual violence | Violence | 25 | 31 | 40 |
| Armed robbery | Violence | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Burglary | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 103 | 110 | 66 |
| Vehicle theft | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 47 | 55 | 56 |
| Theft from vehicles | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 177 | 312 | 232 |
| Criminal damage | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 133 | 190 | 192 |
| Theft without violence | Not in the grade | 133 | 148 | 158 |
| Robbery without a weapon | Not in the grade | 13 | 14 | 11 |
| Theft of vehicle parts | Not in the grade | 36 | 45 | 35 |
| Fraud | Not in the grade | 130 | 139 | 153 |
| Drug use | Not in the grade | 47 | 61 | 37 |
| 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).
Bruges and the towns around it
| Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruges | 20,020 | 7.6 | 27.9 | D |
| Le Bouscat | 25,081 | 4.7 | 25.4 | C− |
| Eysines | 24,825 | 9.1 | 25.4 | D |
| Bordeaux | 267,991 | 12.4 | 43.5 | D− |
| Blanquefort | 17,215 | 9.5 | 26.5 | D |
| Mérignac | 78,090 | 7.3 | 22.5 | C− |
| Le Haillan | 11,392 | 6.5 | 22.1 | C− |
4 of its 6 graded neighbors have a lower recorded rate in the graded categories than Bruges.
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 Bruges
Is Bruges safe?
It has more crime per resident than 91% of compared French towns: an average of 7.6 recorded violent incidents and 27.9 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. It grades D for safety, #84 of 100 in Gironde. Among the 388 French towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people, it is 335th from the lowest rate.
Is crime going up in Bruges?
The recorded rate in the graded categories rose 12% from 2023 to 2025: 30.8 per 1,000 residents in 2023, 34.4 in 2025. The grade uses the three-year average, so one unusual year moves it less.
What is the most common recorded offense in Bruges?
Theft from vehicles: 232 in 2025. Then criminal damage (192), theft without violence (158) and fraud (153).
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.