Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1,023 people call this town in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes home.
People here tend to be in good health: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 39% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. The local economy does well: 0.7 jobs per working resident; 8.0% unemployment. Pupils here do less well than most (C): bac results 0.7 points below the expected rate; brevet results 6.7 points below the expected rate.
Figures: deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · employment, INSEE census 2023 · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education. Saint-Martin-du-Frêne 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.
Each subject compares Saint-Martin-du-Frêne 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-Martin-du-Frêne has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry lists no building in Saint-Martin-du-Frêne as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Église Saint-Michel, in Nantua, 2.7 mi away.
13% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Nothing in Saint-Martin-du-Frêne is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Martin-du-Frêne.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
The nearest emergency department to Saint-Martin-du-Frêne is Centre hospitalier du Haut Bugey Geovreisset, 9.1 mi away. France’s death rates at each age would predict 95 deaths in the town from 2016 to 2025; there were 75, 21% fewer. Also worth knowing: in Ain, women can expect to live 85.9 years and men 82 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. There are 4 general practitioners locally.
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 · That adjustment for care homes is a model of TownRatings’ own, not official data.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
At the vocational lycée within 5 km, 84% of 43 candidates passed the bac pro. Near Saint-Martin-du-Frêne, 94.8% of lycée candidates passed the bac, near Ain’s towns (94.2%) and higher than compared French towns (92.9%). For collège, the closest is 2.8 mi away.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Xavier BichatNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 79 | 75%−12 pts |
| Lycée polyvalent Xavier BichatNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 145 | 98%±0 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
The median disposable income was €28,720 a year per consumption unit, close to Ain’s towns (€27,670) and above compared French towns (€25,970). The jobless rate is 8.0%. At the census, 3.3% of working residents in Saint-Martin-du-Frêne didn’t travel to work at all.
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.
Houses accounted for nine in ten sales, apartments for the rest. 20 houses and apartments changed hands in Saint-Martin-du-Frêne from July 2023 to June 2026.
Source: Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Degrees are held by nearly a quarter of adults. A fifth of residents are 65 or over, about level with Ain’s towns (19%) and below compared French towns (22%). Half the people of Saint-Martin-du-Frêne are older than 47.6.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
| Saint-Martin-du-Frêne | Ain median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 20% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 34% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 20% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 23% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 33% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 23% | 32% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Ain median and France median: the median of compared communes
Heritage, museums and other places to visit in and near Saint-Martin-du-Frêne. Best known first.
MuseumMusée départemental d'Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l'Ain et du Haut-Jura4.5 km east, in NantuaAbbeyAbbeyAbbaye Saint-Pierre de Nantua4.4 km east, in NantuaChâteauChâteauChâteau de Maillat1.4 km west, in MaillatAttractionAttractionMarmites4.9 km northeast, in Montréal-la-ClusePhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Wikidata places 1 person here, but the articles don’t both confirm Saint-Martin-du-Frêne as the birthplace, so nobody is listed.
Commune in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Saint-Martin-du-Frêne is a commune of 1,023 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Haut - Bugey Agglomération. 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
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-Martin-du-Frêne | 1,023 | — | — | B | — | A+ |
| Nantua | 3,416 | 2.7 | C+ | A− | C | B− |
| Montréal-la-Cluse | 3,568 | 3.1 | B | B− | A− | B− |
| Bellignat | 3,525 | 8.5 | A− | B | B | A− |
| Oyonnax | 22,480 | 9.4 | B | B− | B− | C+ |
| Ceyzériat | 3,328 | 11 | A+ | C+ | A− | B+ |
| Arbent | 3,555 | 12 | — | B+ | — | A |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Saint-Martin-du-Frêne has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 6.5 recorded violent incidents and 10 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 33% of compared French towns. 98% of 145 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Xavier Bichat in 2025, at the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
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 November 4, 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.