Venturi flow meters are pressure differential devices that perform accurate measurements with minimal pressure losses. They are widely used and well-documented in high-Reynolds applications. However, there is a lack of information regarding their performance outside the standards. The premise of the present study is to characterize a single-phase subsonic compact truncated venturi flow meter experimentally and then extend the research using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The computational work results in a design of experiment with 216 unique geometries at three different flow conditions (648 cases). This allows for characterizing the pressure losses and discharge coefficient as a function of diameter ratio (0.3–0.8), recovery cone truncation (0 %–50 %), and divergent angle (5°–20°). The thorough analysis of the results yields an intricate flow interaction and dependency on the studied parameters. The study covers throat Reynolds numbers from 7∙103 to 7∙104. In this regime, uncertainty in mass flow measurement increases notably (up to 20 %) with a decrease in mass flow. Pressure losses are sensitive to the three studied parameters, while the discharge coefficient can be considered to be independent of divergent angle and truncation. Truncating the Venturi at 50 % can increase the pressure loss coefficient by over 15 %. The optimal divergent angle and truncation to minimize losses for a prescribed length are provided for the instances where the installation space is constrained. This manuscript includes design guidelines relevant to all experimentalists.