Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,340 in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Saint-Marcel has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is schools (C−): brevet results 5 points below the expected rate. Its strongest is health (A): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 31% 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 2 things Saint-Marcel does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Saint-Marcel 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 no building in Saint-Marcel as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Motte féodale dite Poype de Villars, in Villars-les-Dombes, 4.3 mi away.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Marcel.
That puts Saint-Marcel below both Ain’s towns (19%) and compared French towns (22%). Children under 15 make up 20% of residents.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
| Saint-Marcel | Ain median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 20% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 12% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 12% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 23% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 35% | 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.
On this, Saint-Marcel is below both Ain’s towns (82) and compared French towns (88). The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from B− to A+.
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.
In the comparison, Saint-Marcel comes below both Ain’s towns (91.0%) and compared French towns (87.5%).
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège de la DombesNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 136 | 86%−5 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
For Saint-Marcel, that is above both Ain’s towns (€27,670) and compared French towns (€25,970). Unemployment stands at 6.8%. Saint-Marcel has 100 jobs for 700 working residents, 0.1 per worker.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Too few homes sold here for a reliable median price, so the Cost Grade uses rent alone.
Source: Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Heritage in and near Saint-Marcel. Best known first.
Nothing in Saint-Marcel is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Saint-Marcel 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-Marcel | 1,340 | — | — | B− | — | A |
| Saint-André-de-Corcy | 3,370 | 2.1 | B | C− | B+ | B− |
| Villars-les-Dombes | 5,163 | 4.3 | A− | C | C | B |
| Montluel | 6,895 | 7 | B− | C | C+ | B |
| La Boisse | 3,449 | 7.7 | A | C− | A | A |
| Montanay Rhône | 3,308 | 7.8 | A+ | D | A− | A+ |
| Dagneux | 4,778 | 7.8 | B− | C− | C | B+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Saint-Marcel has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 4.9 recorded violent incidents and 12.3 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
They grade C−, better than 19% of compared French towns. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Commune in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Saint-Marcel is a commune of 1,340 people in the Communauté de communes de la Dombes. 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) · 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.