Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 13,627 in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Only 10% of residents are 65 or over.
Gex grades A− overall: better than 81% of compared French towns, and #19 of 53 in Ain. Its weakest subject is cost of living (C−): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 7.6 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its strongest is health (A): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 30% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 2 things Gex does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Gex 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.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry lists 2 historic monuments in Gex, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 17th century; the first monument here was protected in 1929.
Wikidata records 2 people born in Gex before 1900, the earliest Amédée Girod de l'Ain, in 1781.
Explore the history →Other places to visit, heritage and museums in and near Gex. Best known first.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Gex.
On this, Gex is below both Ain’s towns (19%) and compared French towns (22%). Under-15s account for 20% of the population.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
| Gex | Ain median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 20% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 37% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 10% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 13% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 20% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 43% | 32% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Ain median and France median: the median of compared communes
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In the comparison, Gex comes below both Ain’s towns (82) and compared French towns (88). From 2016 to 2025, 684 residents of Gex died, against 766 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 11% fewer. The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic.
Source: INSEE, deaths by commune of residence 2016–2025 and censuses; Eurostat, death rates by age (© European Union); INSEE, BPE 2025; DREES, APL 2024; INSEE, life expectancy by département 2025 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Near Gex, 99.4% of lycée candidates passed the bac, above both Ain’s towns (94.2%) and compared French towns (92.9%). Schools rank #2 of 54 in Ain.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Jeanne d'Arc PrivateNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 196 | 100%+1 pt |
| Lycée polyvalent Jeanne d'Arc PrivateNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 114 | 100%±0 pts |
| Collège Georges CharpakBest against expectations: a point above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 165 | 91%+1 pt |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
For Gex, that is above both Ain’s towns (€12.27/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). The median price, €4,629/m², comes from 602 sales of houses and apartments in Gex from July 2023 to June 2026. Houses in Gex sell for €5,236/m² and apartments for €4,559/m².
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €5,236/m² | 107 |
| Apartments | €4,559/m² | 495 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Gex sits above both Ain’s towns (€27,670) and compared French towns (€25,970) on this measure. Gex has 3,000 jobs for 7,250 working residents, 0.4 per worker. 10.9% of the labour force are out of work.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry lists 2 historic monuments in Gex, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Police and gendarmerie recorded 319 offenses in the graded categories in Gex in 2025. 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, 0.2% of the index here.
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.
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte
The list names few of Gex’s 2 monuments; beside them, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
3 notable people were born in Gex.
Amédée Girod de l'Ain: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gex | 13,627 | — | A− | C− | B− | A |
| Cessy | 5,832 | 1.1 | A+ | C− | A | A+ |
| Ségny | 2,941 | 2.7 | — | C− | — | A+ |
| Divonne-les-Bains | 10,464 | 4 | C+ | D− | B− | A+ |
| Ornex | 5,082 | 4.2 | B− | D | B− | A+ |
| Prévessin-Moëns | 9,153 | 5.4 | B | D | B− | A+ |
| Ferney-Voltaire | 12,094 | 5.9 | B− | D | C | A+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B− for safety, #35 of 53 in Ain. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 37 burglaries and 91 acts of criminal damage.
They grade A, better than 90% of compared French towns and #2 of 54 in Ain. 100% of 114 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Jeanne d'Arc in 2025, at the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Homes cost more than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €4,629/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Gex grades C− for cost of living.
Commune in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Gex is a commune of 13,627 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Gex. 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
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, employment, commuting) · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (income per consumption unit, poverty) · DGFiP, DVF property sales, July 2023 to June 2026 · Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025 · SSMSI, recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Ministry of Education (DEPP), brevet and bac results and value-added indicators, 2025 · INSEE, deaths by commune of residence 2016–2025 and censuses 2012–2023; Eurostat, death rates by age (© European Union); INSEE, BPE 2025 (care homes, emergency and maternity units, GPs, pharmacies); DREES, APL 2024; INSEE, life expectancy by département 2025 (provisional) · INSEE, BPE 2025 and Filosofi 200 m grid (walking distances) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking French towns against each other only, updated October 30, 2026. 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.