Photo: Communauté de communes Ambert Livradois Forez · CC BY-SA 2.0Ambert stands out for other physical violence: 3.5 times the rate of a typical town its size
It has less burglary, vehicle theft and damage than 92% of compared French towns, but less violent crime than only 22%. Police counts work out at 10.6 violent crimes and 7.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle theft and damage per 1,000 residents annually. The overall Safety Grade is B+ (#18 of 38 in Puy-de-Dôme), which means less crime per resident than 65% of compared French towns, judged on offenses police and gendarmerie recorded from 2023 to 2025. Per resident, the graded crimes were up 16% 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 Ambert
Counted where it happens
4,050 jobs are based in Ambert, for 2,550 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 1,237 French towns of 4,600 to 8,800 people with a Safety Grade, Ambert is 474th from the lowest recorded rate per resident. Towns its size ↓
Other physical violence rose sharply
Police and gendarmerie recorded 22 cases of other physical violence in Ambert in 2023 and 42 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
Ambert recorded an average of 10.6 violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, fewer than in 22% of compared French towns, and 7.8 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, fewer than in 92%. Safety Grade ↓
Written from the SSMSI and INSEE data on this page. Figures are offenses police and gendarmerie recorded, not convictions.
Ambert: B+ for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 347 offenses recorded in the graded categories over three years; with a town of 6,517, a few cases more or fewer would move it between B− and A−.
Hidden counts: for armed robbery, burglary, vehicle theft 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, 3.7% 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: other physical violence (6.4 per 1,000 against 1.9), drug use (4 per 1,000 against 1.2) and sexual violence (2.6 per 1,000 against 1). Not published for 2025: armed robbery, burglary, 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.
Ambert, 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 | 21 | 15 | 16 |
| Other physical violence | Violence | 22 | 30 | 42 |
| Sexual violence | Violence | 12 | 31 | 17 |
| Armed robbery | Violence | 0 | n.p. | n.p. |
| Burglary | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Vehicle theft | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | n.p. | 10 | 6 |
| Theft from vehicles | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | n.p. | n.p. | n.p. |
| Criminal damage | Burglary, vehicle theft, damage | 45 | 43 | 37 |
| Theft without violence | Not in the grade | 20 | 30 | 34 |
| 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 | 25 | 38 | 37 |
| Drug use | Not in the grade | 10 | 12 | 26 |
| 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).
Ambert places 474th of 1,237 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mouguerre Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 5,428 | 0.8 | 5.5 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 45 | Volvic Puy-de-Dôme | 4,883 | 3.2 | 7.3 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 110 | Vic-le-Comte Puy-de-Dôme | 5,396 | 4.3 | 8.3 | A |
| … | |||||
| 123 | Ceyrat Puy-de-Dôme | 6,592 | 1.8 | 11 | A |
| … | |||||
| 177 | Romagnat Puy-de-Dôme | 7,894 | 4.2 | 9.6 | A |
| … | |||||
| 471 | Le Bourget-du-Lac Savoie | 5,216 | 4.5 | 13.8 | B+ |
| 472 | Marcheprime Gironde | 5,696 | 5.6 | 12.8 | B+ |
| 473 | Cappelle-la-Grande Nord | 7,839 | 6.8 | 11.7 | B+ |
| 474 | Ambert Puy-de-Dôme | 6,517 | 10.6 | 7.8 | B+ |
| 475 | Pluneret Morbihan | 6,262 | 3.7 | 14.7 | B |
| 476 | Saint-Flour Cantal | 6,391 | 9.1 | 9.4 | B |
| 477 | Sorbiers Loire | 8,116 | 3.4 | 15.2 | B |
| … | |||||
| 1237 | Rungis Val-de-Marne | 5,611 | 19.3 | 44.6 | D− |
Per 1,000 residents a year. Context only: the grade compares Ambert with every compared French town, not just towns its size.
Lowest rate in the graded categories first, 2023–2025 average, with the closest to Ambert and up to four from Puy-de-Dôme.
Crime in Ambert 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 8 burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage, and 9 thefts without violence and frauds: a year, 2023–2025 average.
Ambert and the towns around it
| Town | People | Violence | Homes, vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambert | 6,517 | 10.6 | 7.8 | B+ |
| Montbrison Loire | 16,123 | 12.6 | 15.8 | C− |
| Savigneux Loire | 3,509 | 3.2 | 12.4 | A− |
| Courpière | 4,166 | 7.6 | 12.8 | B |
1 of its 3 graded neighbors has a lower recorded rate in the graded categories than Ambert.
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 Ambert
Is Ambert safe?
It has less crime per resident than 65% of compared French towns: an average of 10.6 recorded violent incidents and 7.8 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. It grades B+ for safety, #18 of 38 in Puy-de-Dôme. Among the 1,237 French towns of 4,600 to 8,800 people, it is 474th from the lowest rate. With 4,050 jobs for 2,550 working residents, Ambert 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 Ambert?
The recorded rate in the graded categories rose 16% from 2023 to 2025: 16.1 per 1,000 residents in 2023, 18.7 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 Ambert?
Other physical violence: 42 in 2025. Then criminal damage (37), fraud (37) and theft without violence (34).
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.