Photo: Jamain · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime per resident in Wattrelos runs higher than in 93% of compared French towns
The graded rate fell 9% from 2023 to 2025. By contrast, it has more violent crime than 74% of compared French towns, and more burglary, vehicle theft and damage than 95%. Measured on offenses police and gendarmerie recorded in Wattrelos between 2023 and 2025, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #166 of 189 in Nord. Behind the grade sit 10.0 violent crimes and 26.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle theft and damage per 1,000 people 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 Wattrelos
Less violence than burglary, vehicle theft and damage
Wattrelos recorded an average of 10 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, fewer than in 26% of compared French towns, and 26.8 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, fewer than in 5%. Safety Grade ↓
Among towns its size
Among the 212 French towns of 28,600 to 55,100 people with a Safety Grade, Wattrelos is 167th 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.
The grade: D for Wattrelos
A firm grade. Built on 4,509 offenses recorded in the graded categories over three years; with a town of 40,847, 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, under 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: vehicle theft (7.3 per 1,000 against 1.9), theft of vehicle parts (4.7 per 1,000 against 1.3) and drug dealing (0.7 per 1,000 against 0.3). Not published for 2025: armed robbery.
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.
Towns its size: Wattrelos comes 167th of 212
| # | Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saint-Joseph Réunion | 39,207 | 9.4 | 4.7 | A |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Marcq-en-Barœul Nord | 40,184 | 5.4 | 17.6 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 164 | Roanne Loire | 35,409 | 14.2 | 21.9 | D |
| 165 | Saint-Brieuc Côtes-d'Armor | 44,364 | 14.3 | 22.4 | D |
| 166 | Paris 6e Paris | 40,389 | 9.8 | 27 | D |
| 167 | Wattrelos Nord | 40,847 | 10 | 26.8 | D |
| 168 | Arles Bouches-du-Rhône | 51,811 | 10.7 | 26.3 | D |
| 169 | Saint-Martin-d'Hères Isère | 37,695 | 8.4 | 28.7 | D |
| 170 | Auxerre Yonne | 35,097 | 13.3 | 23.9 | D |
| … | |||||
| 172 | Maubeuge Nord | 28,767 | 18 | 19.7 | D |
| … | |||||
| 180 | Cambrai Nord | 31,134 | 17.4 | 22.3 | D |
| … | |||||
| 201 | Douai Nord | 40,250 | 20.9 | 27.9 | D− |
| … | |||||
| 212 | Lyon 2e Rhône | 29,981 | 20 | 85.9 | D− |
Per 1,000 residents a year. Context only: the grade compares Wattrelos with every compared French town, not just towns its size.
Lowest rate in the graded categories first, 2023–2025 average, with the closest to Wattrelos and up to four from Nord.
Crime in Wattrelos 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 27 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, and 9 thefts without violence and frauds: a year, 2023–2025 average.
Wattrelos, 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 | 230 | 232 | 171 |
| Other physical violence | Violence | 124 | 106 | 122 |
| Sexual violence | Violence | 69 | 76 | 85 |
| Armed robbery | Violence | 9 | 5 | n.p. |
| Burglary | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 150 | 158 | 113 |
| Vehicle theft | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 273 | 277 | 299 |
| Theft from vehicles | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 184 | 211 | 205 |
| Criminal damage | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 510 | 494 | 406 |
| Theft without violence | Not in the grade | 202 | 182 | 146 |
| Robbery without a weapon | Not in the grade | 29 | 35 | 30 |
| Theft of vehicle parts | Not in the grade | 150 | 153 | 194 |
| Fraud | Not in the grade | 194 | 225 | 191 |
| Drug use | Not in the grade | 60 | 73 | 100 |
| Drug dealing | Not in the grade | 7 | 12 | 30 |
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).
Wattrelos and the towns around it
4 of its 6 graded neighbors have a lower recorded rate in the graded categories than Wattrelos.
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 Wattrelos
Is Wattrelos safe?
It has more crime per resident than 93% of compared French towns: an average of 10 recorded violent incidents and 26.8 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, #166 of 189 in Nord. Among the 212 French towns of 28,600 to 55,100 people, it is 167th from the lowest rate.
Is crime going up in Wattrelos?
The recorded rate in the graded categories fell 9% from 2023 to 2025: 37.9 per 1,000 residents in 2023, 34.3 in 2025. The grade uses the three-year average, so one unusual year moves it less.
What is the most common recorded offense in Wattrelos?
Criminal damage: 406 in 2025. Then vehicle theft (299), theft from vehicles (205) and theft of vehicle parts (194).
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.