These Are Europe’s Most Dangerous Cities, According To Citizens

Where do European’s feel the least safe?

To answer this question, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu visualized the results of Numbeo’s Crime Index, which reveals how people perceive safety in their own city as of mid-2025.

Unlike official crime statistics, this index reflects public sentiment through crowdsourced surveys.

Data & Discussion

Numbeo’s City Crime Index uses a scale from 0 to 100, based on residents’ self-reported experiences and perceptions. The survey covers various aspects of crime, including:

• General perception of crime levels

• Perceived safety during day and night

• Concerns about specific crimes (mugging, robbery, car theft, physical attacks, etc)

• Severity of property crime (burglary, theft, vandalism)

• Severity of violent crime (assault, homicide, sexual offenses)

As mentioned above, higher values indicate a stronger sense of insecurity among residents. Here’s how to interpret the scores:

• Very Low Crime: 20 and below

• Low Crime: 20.01-40

• Moderate Crime: 40.01-60

• High Crime: 60.01-80

• Very High Crime: above 80

According to the mid-2025 rankings, the top five most dangerous cities in Europe are Bradford, Marseille, Coventry, Birmingham, and Naples.

The UK Claims Four of the Top Five

Four of the top five cities — Bradford, Coventry, Birmingham, and London — are located in the United Kingdom. Bradford leads the list with a Crime Index of 67.1, the highest in Europe.

One area of concern is rising knife crime. In the year ending March 2024, there were roughly 50,500 offences involving a knife in England and Wales, up notably from 33,800 in 2011.

Under current UK laws, individuals must be at least 18 years old to purchase a knife.

France

France accounts for seven of the top 10 entries, including Marseille, Grenoble, Montpellier, Nantes, Paris, Lyon, and Nice. Despite their cultural and economic prominence, these cities report strong local concerns about petty theft, vandalism, and other poverty-related issues.

Marseille, in particular, remains associated with organized crime, while Paris struggles with perceptions of street crime in tourist areas.

What the Crime Index Really Measures

It’s important to remember that these are the most dangerous cities in Europe according to citizen perceptions, not official crime data. Factors such as media coverage, visible disorder, and local socioeconomic conditions can all influence these scores.

Still, perception plays a major role in shaping city reputations, affecting tourism, investment, and migration decisions across Europe.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The $3.1 Trillion Financial Crime Pandemic on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.