Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 2,246 residents, it is a town in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Saint-Denis-en-Bugey’s best grade is for walkability (A): 94% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 13% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Health is a weak point: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 4% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. It lags on jobs & income as well: 0.2 jobs per working resident; 7.4% unemployment. Homes sell for a median €2,195/m², so 70 m² costs 5.6 years of the median income per consumption unit in the Communauté de communes de la Plaine de l'Ain. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for safety and B− for schools.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education. Saint-Denis-en-Bugey has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The 2 things Saint-Denis-en-Bugey does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Saint-Denis-en-Bugey 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.
Saint-Denis-en-Bugey has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Saint-Denis-en-Bugey has 1 historic monument on the Culture ministry’s list: 1 classé, the highest protection, and 0 inscrit, the second level.
The oldest protected part dates from the 13th century; the first monument here was protected in 1899.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Denis-en-Bugey.
7.4% of the labour force were unemployed, below Ain’s towns (8.3%) and compared French towns (10.1%) alike. Public transport took 8.2% of Saint-Denis-en-Bugey’s working residents to work at the census. The median disposable income is €26,510 a year per consumption unit.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Ages and care homes taken into account, deaths in Saint-Denis-en-Bugey come to 96 per 100 predicted. 165 deaths locally between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 171: 4% below. Life expectancy in Ain: 85.9 years for women and 82 for men (2025); France averages 85.9 and 80.3. The town has one family doctor.
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 · Allowing for care homes is a TownRatings estimate, not a published statistic. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from D to B.
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Saint-Denis-en-Bugey is Château (ancien). Protection here reaches back to the 13th century. Also worth knowing: 8.3% of homes were built before 1919.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
One measure of family life: 17% of residents are under 15. People aged 15 to 24 make up just over a tenth of the town, near both Ain’s towns (11%) and compared French towns (11%). Line up the people of Saint-Denis-en-Bugey by age and the one in the middle is 44.5.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
| Saint-Denis-en-Bugey | Ain median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 20% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 21% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 17% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 36% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 21% | 32% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Ain median and France median: the median of compared communes
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Collège pupils travel 1.7 mi to the nearest one.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Saint-ExupéryNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 167 | 77%−8 pts |
| Lycée de la Plaine de l'AinNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 481 | 97%±0 pts |
| Lycée professionnel Alexandre BérardBest against expectations: 3 points above the expected rateVocational lycée | Vocational lycée | 166 | 90%+3 pts |
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.
69 sales of houses and apartments in Saint-Denis-en-Bugey, from July 2023 to June 2026, give the median of €2,195/m². A house rents for an estimated €9.54/m² a month. Among the homes sold, 78% were houses.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,271/m² | 54 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Criminal damage topped the graded crimes in Saint-Denis-en-Bugey (2025). 2025 saw 35 offenses recorded locally. Graded property crimes ran at 16 per 1,000 residents a year, and violence against people at 5.5 (2023–2025 average).
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 · When other physical violence, sexual violence, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (19.5% of the index here). With more than 10% of the index estimated that way, this Safety Grade is less sure than most. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Heritage, museums and other places to visit in and near Saint-Denis-en-Bugey. Best known first.
MuseumMusée du cheminot2.3 km northeast, in Ambérieu-en-BugeyMuseumMuseumMusée de la vigne de Vaux-en-Bugey3.2 km southeast, in Vaux-en-BugeyChâteauChâteauChâteau de Saint-Germain3.8 km east, in Ambérieu-en-BugeyAttractionAttractionChâteau de Saint-Maurice-de-Rémens4.1 km west, in Saint-Maurice-de-RémensAttractionAttractionMirage III à Ambérieu-en-Bugey2.9 km northeast, in Ambérieu-en-BugeyPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Saint-Denis-en-Bugey has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Château (ancien): Photo: Zbh0170 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Saint-Denis-en-Bugey yet.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Denis-en-Bugey | 2,246 | — | — | B− | B− | C |
| Ambérieu-en-Bugey | 15,934 | 1.4 | C− | C+ | C− | C |
| Lagnieu | 7,411 | 3.5 | B+ | B− | B | C+ |
| Ambronay | 2,841 | 4.1 | A− | B+ | B− | B+ |
| Villieu-Loyes-Mollon | 3,849 | 5 | B | C | C+ | B |
| Meximieux | 8,247 | 6.8 | C+ | C− | C+ | B− |
| Pont-d'Ain | 2,843 | 7.2 | D | B+ | D | D |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B− for safety. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 10 burglaries and 14 acts of criminal damage.
They grade B−, better than 55% of compared French towns. 97% of 481 candidates passed the bac at Lycée de la Plaine de l'Ain in 2025, at the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Prices are close to the median of compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,195/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Estimated advertised apartment rents are €11.85/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Saint-Denis-en-Bugey grades B− for cost of living.
Commune in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Saint-Denis-en-Bugey is a commune of 2,246 people in the Communauté de communes de la Plaine de l'Ain. 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 November 9, 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.