Crime is the sore point: an average of 11.7 recorded violent incidents and 20.4 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Jobs and pay trail most towns: 2.1 jobs per working resident; 14.9% unemployment. At the median price of €1,957/m², a 70 m² home costs 5.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the Communauté d'agglomération du Bassin de Bourg-en-Bresse. Fewer journeys need a car: 96% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 31% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. The overall grade lands at C, #49 of 53 in Ain. It comes out better than just over a third of compared French towns. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for schools and C+ for health.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025).
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
Each subject compares Bourg-en-Bresse with other French towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far its rank is from the middle. American and UK towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bourg-en-Bresse.
Work & commuteJobs & income C
30.6% of commuters in Bourg-en-Bresse go to work without a car, more than in Ain’s towns and compared French towns
The typical income here, after tax and benefits, is €22,480 a year per consumption unit. Unemployment stood at 14.9%, higher than both Ain’s towns (8.3%) and compared French towns (10.1%). At the census, 9.3% of working residents in Bourg-en-Bresse went to work by public transport.
31%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving66%
On foot14%
Public transport9%
Bicycle7%
Motorbike or scooter1%
33,550
jobs based in Bourg-en-Bresse, 2.1 per working resident
14.9%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€22,480
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
3%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A+
Walkability: better than 96% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Safety
For crime per resident, Bourg-en-Bresse sits above 86% of compared French towns
Bourg-en-Bresse comes 52nd of the 53 compared towns in Ain on the Safety Grade. Jobs outnumber working residents in Bourg-en-Bresse (33,550 to 15,900): it draws people in from around. 1,505 offenses were reported in Bourg-en-Bresse during 2025. The commonest graded crime in the town was criminal damage (2025).
11.7recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage549
Other physical violence208
Burglary207
Family violence201
Theft from vehicles152
Sexual violence124
Vehicle theft64
Theft without violence558
Drug use382
Fraud291
Not in the gradeTheft without violence, drug use and fraud 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.
11.7
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
20.4
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
1,505
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
under 0.1%
of the index rests on the département’s average, used where small counts aren’t published
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · For armed robbery, 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, under 0.1% of the index here. Crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its residents, so a town that draws people in from around can look higher. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
History
More protected monuments for its size in Bourg-en-Bresse than in Ain or compared French towns: 8.3 per 10,000 residents
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Bourg-en-Bresse is Maison à pans de bois. Houses and mansions, 21 of the 35, make up the bulk. Protection here reaches back to the 15th century. On the Culture ministry’s list, Bourg-en-Bresse counts 35 historic monuments: 6 classé at the top level of protection and 29 inscrit at the second.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HealthHealth C+
Bourg-en-Bresse records 91 deaths for every 100 its ages predict, against 82 in Ain’s towns and 88 in compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
France’s death rates at each age would predict 4,657 deaths in Bourg-en-Bresse from 2016 to 2025; there were 4,683, 1% more. Life expectancy at birth in Ain is 85.9 years for women and 82 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. The town has 31 family doctors.
−9%deaths against expected, after care homesC+Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw101
Adjusted91
Median town88
Expected100
31
GPs in Bourg-en-Bresse · 3.2 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
1.3 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Clinique Docteur Convert
1.7 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier de Bourg En Bresse Fleyriat
85.9 · 82
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Ain, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
90.6% of candidates passed the brevet at the nine collèges within 5 km, a point above the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Vocational results within 5 km: 89% passed the bac pro, of 531 candidates at 4 lycées. Schools rank #25 of 54 in Ain. At the lycées within 5 km of Bourg-en-Bresse, 93.6% passed the bac, in line with Ain’s towns (94.2%) and compared French towns (92.9%).
96%passed the bac (general and technological)B−School Grade
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Students and young workers shape Bourg-en-Bresse: 15% are 15 to 24, above Ain’s towns and compared French towns
People 65 and over make up 23% of the town, higher than Ain’s towns (19%) and near compared French towns (22%). Under 15: 16% of residents. The median resident of Bourg-en-Bresse is 41.4 years old.
41.4median age
Bourg-en-BresseAin medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
15%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma24%
CAP or BEP23%
Baccalauréat18%
Higher education29%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Ain median and France median: the median of compared communes
HousingCost of living B−
Bourg-en-Bresse’s grade for cost of living: a B−
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
1,562 sales of houses and apartments in Bourg-en-Bresse, from July 2023 to June 2026, give the median of €1,957/m². In Bourg-en-Bresse, houses go for €2,244/m² and apartments for €1,892/m². House rents are put at about €10.90/m² a month.
€1,957/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Bourg-en-Bresse€1,957/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Ain median€2,641/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,244/m²
314
Apartments
€1,892/m²
1,248
€11.96/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€9.35 to €15.29/m² a month)
5.2
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€10.90/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€26,360
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté d'agglomération du Bassin de Bourg-en-Bresse
Maison à pans de bois: Photo: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Église Notre-Dame: Photo: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Maison de bois: Photo: BUFO88 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Collège des Jésuites (ancien): Photo: Guy Prieur · CC BY-SA 3.0
Jérôme Lalande: Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Public domain · François Clerc: Estelle.Choteau, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Julien Benneteau: Tatiana from Moscow, Russia, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Antoine Diot: Rikster2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Daniel Morelon: Nicola, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Marie-Joseph Lagrange: Unknown photographer, Public domain
Bourg-en-Bresse’s neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Bourg-en-Bresse
Is Bourg-en-Bresse safe?
It grades D for safety. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 207 burglaries and 549 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Bourg-en-Bresse good?
They grade B−, better than 54% of compared French towns and #25 of 54 in Ain. 99% of 339 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Lalande in 2025, at the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Bourg-en-Bresse expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,957/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Estimated advertised apartment rents are €11.96/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Bourg-en-Bresse grades B− for cost of living.
About Bourg-en-Bresse
Commune in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Bourg-en-Bresse is a commune of 42,372 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Bassin de Bourg-en-Bresse. TownRatings compares communes, France’s local unit: each has its own mayor and its own statistics. Its area takes in the town and the countryside around it.
Built from INSEE’s 2026 official geography (COG) and IGN Admin Express boundaries
Population
42,372 (INSEE, census 2023)
Intercommunality
Communauté d'agglomération du Bassin de Bourg-en-Bresse
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.
