Photo: Scanné par Claude_villetaneuse · Public domainCrime per resident in Méru runs higher than in 69% of compared French towns
Counting offenses police and gendarmerie recorded in Méru from 2023 to 2025, it grades C for safety: #38 of 56 in Oise.
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 Méru
Other physical violence fell sharply
Police and gendarmerie recorded 83 cases of other physical violence in Méru in 2023 and 49 in 2025. Small counts swing from year to year; the grade averages the three years. Year by year ↓
More violence than burglary, vehicle theft and damage
Méru recorded an average of 12.1 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, fewer than in 15% of compared French towns, and 14 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, fewer than in 50%. Safety Grade ↓
Among towns its size
Among the 563 French towns of 9,700 to 18,800 people with a Safety Grade, Méru is 283rd 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.
Méru grades C for safety
Per resident, against the 4,295 compared French towns with a Safety Grade.
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,084 offenses recorded in the graded categories over three years; with a town of 13,897, 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, 0.2% of the index here. What isn’t published ↓
What police and gendarmerie recorded most in 2025
Per 1,000 residents in 2025; the tick is the median of the graded French towns of 10,000 to 50,000.
Well above the median of towns its size: sexual violence (3.7 per 1,000 against 1.8). Not published for 2025: armed robbery, robbery without a weapon 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.
The recorded rate in the graded categories fell 10% per resident from 2023 to 2025
Offenses recorded each year. n.p.: not published (small: five or fewer in at least one of the last three years).
Violence · per 1,000 residents
Burglary, vehicle theft, damage · per 1,000 residents
| Kind | In the grade | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family violence | Violence | 71 | 81 | 64 |
| Other physical violence | Violence | 83 | 39 | 49 |
| Sexual violence | Violence | 31 | 31 | 52 |
| Armed robbery | Violence | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Burglary | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 28 | 30 | 25 |
| Vehicle theft | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 22 | 46 | 29 |
| Theft from vehicles | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 24 | 20 | 28 |
| Criminal damage | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 127 | 105 | 99 |
| Theft without violence | Not in the grade | 80 | 64 | 59 |
| Robbery without a weapon | Not in the grade | n.p. | 8 | n.p. |
| Theft of vehicle parts | Not in the grade | 30 | 34 | 25 |
| Fraud | Not in the grade | 93 | 86 | 83 |
| Drug use | Not in the grade | 47 | 34 | 41 |
| 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”.
About 12 recorded violent incidents a year for every 1,000 residents
And 14 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, and 11 thefts without violence and frauds: a year, 2023–2025 average.
Each dot is one resident’s share: offenses are counted, not victims, and one person can be the victim of several.
Méru is 283rd of 563 French towns of 9,700 to 18,800 people
Lowest rate in the graded categories first, 2023–2025 average, with the closest to Méru and up to four from Oise.
| # | Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apatou French Guiana | 10,306 | 5.9 | 1.8 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 110 | Crépy-en-Valois Oise | 14,351 | 8.8 | 11.4 | B |
| … | |||||
| 244 | Pont-Sainte-Maxence Oise | 12,361 | 11.7 | 13.2 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 280 | Villerupt Meurthe-et-Moselle | 10,102 | 10.8 | 15.2 | C |
| 281 | Montlhéry Essonne | 9,772 | 7.8 | 18.1 | C |
| 282 | Épinay-sur-Orge Essonne | 10,722 | 7.5 | 18.6 | C |
| 283 | Méru Oise | 13,897 | 12.1 | 14 | C |
| 284 | Chantepie Ille-et-Vilaine | 10,670 | 6.2 | 19.9 | C |
| 285 | Fosses Val-d'Oise | 10,570 | 10.9 | 15.2 | C |
| 286 | Sainte-Savine Aube | 10,289 | 7.7 | 18.4 | C |
| … | |||||
| 377 | Montataire Oise | 14,257 | 10.3 | 19 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 380 | Clermont Oise | 10,564 | 12.8 | 16.6 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 563 | Paris 1er Paris | 15,114 | 45.5 | 67.1 | D− |
Per 1,000 residents a year. Context only: the grade compares Méru with every compared French town, not just towns its size.
Méru and the towns around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average.
| Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Méru | 13,897 | 12.1 | 14 | C |
| Andeville | 3,434 | 4.3 | 5.8 | A+ |
| Bornel | 4,832 | 6.5 | 12.1 | B |
| Sainte-Geneviève | 3,505 | 6.2 | 11.1 | B+ |
| Neuilly-en-Thelle | 4,127 | 8.5 | 12.1 | B− |
| Chambly | 9,959 | 12.2 | 19.6 | C− |
| Noailles | 2,877 | 9.8 | 10.2 | B |
5 of its 6 graded neighbors have a lower recorded rate in the graded categories than Méru.
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 Méru
Is Méru safe?
It has more crime per resident than 69% of compared French towns: an average of 12.1 recorded violent incidents and 14 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, #38 of 56 in Oise. Among the 563 French towns of 9,700 to 18,800 people, it is 283rd from the lowest rate.
Is crime going up in Méru?
The recorded rate in the graded categories fell 10% from 2023 to 2025: 27.8 per 1,000 residents in 2023, 24.9 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 Méru?
Criminal damage: 99 in 2025. Then fraud (83), family violence (64) and theft without violence (59).
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.