Neighborhoods in Oulu

Oulu is, by international standards, a safe city, with among the lowest recorded crime of Finland's biggest cities. Everyday crime is dominated by theft rather than violence, most of it low-level and around the centre and the student nightlife. The figures below are for the whole city; they are not broken down by neighborhood, because a single citywide number repeated on every area page would mislead.

• Reported offences per 10,000 residents874Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus), StatFin offences by municipality, 2025
• Reported violent crime per 10,000 residents76Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus), StatFin offences by municipality, 2025

The useful distinction is between types. Pickpocketing and bike theft are the common, low-level problems, concentrated around the market square, the station and the nightlife. Serious violent crime is rare across the residential districts where these neighborhoods sit.

One thing to keep in mind when comparing countries: Finns have high trust in the police and report a large share of what happens to them, so more crime is recorded here than in places where people do not report. These city rates come from Statistics Finland and count offences where they happen rather than where the victim lives, so a busy centre carries crime against commuters and visitors too.

Finland's crime statistics come from Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus), which publishes reported offences by municipality. Figures are counted where an offence happens rather than where the victim lives, and are not broken down below municipality level. We do not use police designations of problem areas.