Towns and villages · France

Best places to live in France. Explore every town in depth.

Each town gets detailed pages on 12 subjects, drawn from 21 public data sets: 10.2 million crime records, 67,400 schools and 4.49 million property sales. How deep the data goes →

100Départements

3,798Towns ranked

34,858Communes

Today’s départementAlpes-de-Haute-Provence75th of 97 départementsC⁻

PierrevertAlpes-de-Haute-ProvenceB

PeyruisAlpes-de-Haute-ProvenceB

Browse by région

Start with a région

France’s 13 mainland régions and its overseas départements, each with its best-ranked town. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes has the most ranked towns, 517.

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

12 départements · 517 ranked

#1La Roche-BlancheA⁺

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

8 départements · 140 ranked

#1CharquemontA⁺

Brittany

4 départements · 233 ranked

#1La Guerche-de-BretagneA⁺

Centre-Val de Loire

6 départements · 157 ranked

#1Azay-sur-CherA⁺

Corsica

2 départements · 23 ranked

#1AjaccioA

Grand Est

10 départements · 327 ranked

#1SierentzA⁺

Hauts-de-France

5 départements · 412 ranked

#1Sailly-sur-la-LysA⁺

Île-de-France

8 départements · 495 ranked

#1AblisA⁺

Normandy

5 départements · 201 ranked

#1Condé-sur-VireA⁺

Nouvelle-Aquitaine

12 départements · 363 ranked

#1Mauléon-LicharreA⁺

Occitanie

13 départements · 384 ranked

#1Montastruc-la-ConseillèreA⁺

Pays de la Loire

5 départements · 238 ranked

#1Meslay-du-MaineA⁺

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

6 départements · 274 ranked

#1VenellesA

Overseas départements

4 départements · 22 ranked

#1Sainte-RoseC⁺

French rankings

The best-graded towns in France

The 10 top-graded of 3,798 ranked towns of 2,500 or more, with each town’s rank in its own département. Then the lists people ask for most.

The full ranking →

Most affordable

Cost of living grade: home prices and rents against local income

Safest

Recorded crime per resident (SSMSI), 2023–2025

Best big cities

Overall grade, the 50 graded cities of 100,000+

Best places, département by département

Nord Pas-de-Calais Rhône Seine-et-Marne Gironde Bouches-du-Rhône

See every townof 3,798 ranked towns

Compare towns

Next door can be a world apart

Set up to four towns side by side: home prices, schools, safety, commutes and more, row by row. Here’s Enghien-les-Bains beside its neighbors.

Compare any towns →

Enghien-les-Bains vs Deuil-la-BarreJobs & income: A− against C+

Enghien-les-Bains vs Saint-GratienHealth: A against B

Enghien-les-Bains vs Épinay-sur-SeineCost of living: D− against D

Town history

Every town has a past. We went and found it.

Every listed historic monument in France, 49,136 of them from the culture ministry’s register, placed in its commune, with the Sites patrimoniaux remarquables that protect whole town centers.

See Vichy’s history →

Listed monuments · 51

Zone urbaine (VICHY,FR03).
jean-louis Zimmermann (CC BY 2.0)

History town of the day

Vichy, Allier

51 listed monuments4 classés47 inscritsSite patrimonial remarquable

Vichy has 51 listed historic monuments, 4 of them classés, the higher of France’s two protections; the oldest date from the 15th century. Its old center is a Site patrimonial remarquable. Among them: Borne milliaire dans l'établissement thermal, Etablissement thermal, Théâtre et grand Casino.

Open Vichy’s history →

Listed monumentsEvery classé and inscrit monument from the Mérimée register

On the mapEach monument where it stands, with its protection and date

Through the centuriesFrom Roman remains to 20th-century buildings, period by period

Protected centersThe Sites patrimoniaux remarquables and the plans that govern them

Listed monuments: Ministry of Culture, Mérimée register (POP). Sites patrimoniaux remarquables: Ministry of Culture, Atlas des patrimoines.

Attractions

Where people go

Châteaux, abbeys, museums and gardens: 37,318 places to visit across France, each with its own page and the communes around it.

1AttractionTour EiffelParis 7e, Paris Museum2MuseumMusée du LouvreParis 1er, Paris

3AttractionCathédrale Notre-Dame de ParisParis 4e, Paris

4MuseumMusée d'OrsayParis 7e, Paris

5AttractionChâteau de VersaillesVersailles, Yvelines Attraction6AttractionChâteau de MontsoreauMontsoreau, Maine-et-Loire

Photos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (11)

Tour Eiffel: Benh LIEU SONG, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris: P e z i, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Musée d'Orsay: Cheng-en Cheng from Taichung City, Taiwan, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Château de Versailles: ToucanWings, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Château de Fontainebleau: user:Carolus, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
Palais du Luxembourg: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Palais Bourbon: ZeusUpsistos, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Abbaye Royale de Saint-Germain-des-Prés: Axel Brocke, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Cathédrale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul: Eusebius, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Tapisserie de Bayeux: Myrabella, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Herbier: DIST Lyon1, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Town of the day

Solliès-Toucas: homes sell for a median €3,938/m²

Solliès-Toucas grades B overall: better than 56% of compared French towns, and #5 of 73 in Var. Its weakest subject is cost of living (C−): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 9.9 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its strongest is safety (A−): an average of 3 recorded violent incidents and 11.7 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.

Open Solliès-Toucas →

Solliès-ToucasVar, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurA town of 6,269 in Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.Income8% below the poverty lineOf residents in 2023, against 13%, the median of compared French townsHistory1Monuments historiques, 0 of them classéWho lives here44Median age of residents, 2023 censusBOverall#5 of 73 in VarA⁻SafetyC⁻SchoolsA⁻HealthC⁻Cost of livingBJobs & incomeSee all of Solliès-Toucas →

Département report cards

How the 100 départements compare

97 of the 100 départements have an overall grade, from 7 subjects. Aveyron comes first and Aude last; 25 are in the A band and 14 in the D band. Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana have none: INSEE publishes no income figures there yet, so there is no Cost of living grade.

Open the full map →

ABCDNo gradeHover or tap a shape for its name; click it, or tap it again, to open it.

Find a département

No overall grade

Inside a town

What a town’s pages cover

Take a look at these pages in Solliès-Toucas, today’s town.

SafetyCrime recorded by the police and gendarmerie, per resident, graded against French towns.Solliès-Toucas: Safety →Cost of livingWhat homes sell for per m², rents, and what they cost against local incomes.Solliès-Toucas: Cost of living →Work & commuteJobs, unemployment, incomes, and how people get to work.Solliès-Toucas: Work & commute →SchoolsEvery collège and lycée nearby, its brevet or bac results and value added.Solliès-Toucas: Schools →HealthDeaths against France’s rates, GPs, pharmacies and the nearest emergency unit.Solliès-Toucas: Health →Flood & hazardsFloods, storms and other natural disasters declared here, and the risk plans.Solliès-Toucas: Flood & hazards →Who lives hereAges, households, incomes, and where people were born.Solliès-Toucas: Who lives here →HistoryEvery monument historique, protected historic areas and old homes.Solliès-Toucas: History →OutdoorsParks, forests, protected nature and the coast nearby.Solliès-Toucas: Outdoors →AttractionsMuseums, châteaux, gardens and days out in and around town.Solliès-Toucas: Attractions →ClimateA year of weather: rain, sunshine, frost and summer highs.Solliès-Toucas: Climate →Town HallThe mayor, the council, the intercommunality and who to call.Solliès-Toucas: Town Hall →Var rankingsEvery graded town in Var, ranked, with Solliès-Toucas among them.Var rankings →

The map

All 34,858 communes on one map

Zoom into your corner of France. Each dot is a town you can open.

Open the full map →

Scroll to zoom · drag to pan · click a town to open it

Mapping France…

France, one map

Click any dot to open that town.

—towns in view

How grades work

One letter, the same everywhere

Each subject compares a town with every French town of 1,000 or more, from public data: recorded crime (SSMSI), the census and incomes (INSEE), property sales (DVF), collège and lycée results (DEPP), deaths by commune and local amenities (INSEE). The overall grade blends six of them (cost of living, safety, schools, health, jobs and income, and walkability) for towns of 2,500 or more; smaller villages have their page with the figures, without grades. Health is graded from deaths over ten years against the number France’s rates would give, adjusted for care homes; that adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic. Hazard risk isn’t graded yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. French towns are graded against each other only, never against American or British towns. Every town page shows the figures behind its letters.

How grades work →

A⁺top 5%
A85–95
A⁻75–85
B⁺65–75
B55–65
B⁻45–55
C⁺35–45
C25–35
C⁻15–25
D5–15
D⁻bottom 5%

Browse by département

Find a town by département

All 100, by région, with each one’s report-card grade and its ranked towns.

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 12

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté 8

Brittany 4

Centre-Val de Loire 6

Corsica 2

Grand Est 10

Hauts-de-France 5

Île-de-France 8

Normandy 5

Nouvelle-Aquitaine 12

Occitanie 13

Pays de la Loire 5

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 6

Overseas départements 4

Questions about TownRatings France

What is the best place to live in France?

Among 3,798 ranked towns of 2,500 or more, Meslay-du-Maine, Mayenne ranks first, with its best grades in schools and safety. Every ranked town is on the list of the best places to live, and on its département’s where five or more are ranked.

Is my town graded?

Every town and village in France has its page: all 34,858 communes, with Paris, Lyon and Marseille by their 45 arrondissements. What depends on size is the grading. The 4,476 towns of 2,500 or more get every grade we can give them, and 3,798 an overall grade, which needs a Safety Grade and five graded subjects in all. Of the others, 614 have no Safety Grade, because over a quarter of their index would come from the département’s average for crimes too few to publish; 64 are in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, which have no income figures yet. The 5,580 towns of 1,000 to 2,499 get subject grades, and the 24,844 villages under 1,000 have their page with the figures, without grades.

Where do the grades come from?

Public data under the Licence Ouverte: SSMSI recorded crime by commune, the INSEE census and Filosofi incomes, DVF property sales, DEPP brevet and bac results with value added, INSEE deaths by commune and the BPE amenities register. Each town page names its sources.

How is Health graded in France?

From deaths by commune of residence over ten years (2016–2025) against the deaths France’s age and sex rates would give, then adjusted for the places in care homes for older people. The adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic. Where the figure is uncertain the town page says so.

Photos: Pierrevert, Rainbow0413 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Peyruis, Rainbow0413 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · La Roche-Blanche, SM63 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Charquemont, Wikipedro (CC BY-SA 4.0) · La Guerche-de-Bretagne, Saga70 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Azay-sur-Cher, Ludovic Péron (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Ajaccio, Einaz80 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Sierentz, Rauenstein (CC BY-SA 2.5) · Sailly-sur-la-Lys, Pierre André Leclercq (CC BY 4.0) · Ablis, Lionel Allorge (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Condé-sur-Vire, Ikmo-ned (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Mauléon-Licharre, Tangopaso (Public domain) · Montastruc-la-Conseillère, Didier Descouens (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Meslay-du-Maine, Yzergues (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Venelles, Auteur anonyme - éditeur A. Tardy à Marseille (Public domain) · Sainte-Rose, regulator974 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Baraqueville, Cronimus (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Espalion, Anonymous Unknown author (Public domain) · Givry, GO69 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Vals-près-le-Puy, ALlouette70 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Échiré, Yzergues (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Mirecourt, Jeanlouiszimmermann (Public domain) · Levroux, Daniel Jolivet (CC BY 2.0) · Clamecy, Antoine Rex (CC0) · Mouguerre, Daniel VILLAFRUELA . (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Grand-Santi, NullAspect (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Bricquebec-en-Cotentin, Xfigpower (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Boulogne-Billancourt, Chabe01 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Paris 15e, Jean-François Gornet from Paris, France (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Paris 16e, Cyberjunkie (CC BY 2.5) · Enghien-les-Bains, OsmIdf (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Deuil-la-Barre, Tournevoile (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Saint-Gratien, Clicsouris (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Épinay-sur-Seine, René Hourdry (CC0) · Vichy, jean-louis Zimmermann (CC BY 2.0) · Solliès-Toucas, Fadli Mehmed (CC BY 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

Grades compare French towns with each other only; American and British towns are graded in their own editions. TownRatings for America →

Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking French towns against each other only, run #47 of October 30, 2026 · INSEE, census 2023 (population) · SSMSI recorded crime 2023–2025; DGFiP DVF sales; INSEE Filosofi incomes; DEPP brevet and bac results; INSEE deaths 2016–2025 and BPE 2025 · INSEE, Code officiel géographique 2026 (départements and régions). 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.