Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 1,634: a town in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Saint-Paul-de-Varax’s strongest subject is walkability — 90% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 15% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Buying 70 m² at the median €2,503/m² takes 6.2 years of the median income per consumption unit in the Communauté de communes de la Dombes. Residents’ health trails most towns (D−): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 27% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, 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. Saint-Paul-de-Varax 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-Paul-de-Varax 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-Paul-de-Varax has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Saint-Paul-de-Varax has 2 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 1 classé, the highest protection, and 1 inscrit, the second level.
The oldest protected part dates from the 12th century; the first monument here was protected in 1908.
Explore the history →The list names few of Saint-Paul-de-Varax’s 2 monuments; beside them, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Paul-de-Varax.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Average lifespans in Ain: 85.9 years for women, 82 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 nationally. France’s death rates at each age would predict 104 deaths in Saint-Paul-de-Varax from 2016 to 2025; there were 133, 27% more. The nearest emergency department to Saint-Paul-de-Varax is Centre hospitalier de Bourg En Bresse Fleyriat, 9.4 mi away.
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 · TownRatings makes the care-home adjustment itself; it is a model, not an official statistic.
Saint-Paul-de-Varax holds 400 jobs; 800 of its residents are in work, so 0.5 jobs each. Public transport took 10.3% of the town’s working residents to work at the census. Median disposable income comes to €26,850 a year per consumption unit.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
20% are under 15, higher than both Ain’s towns (20%) and compared French towns (17%). The 65-and-over age group makes up 17% of residents. Typical age in Saint-Paul-de-Varax: 40.1, the median.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
| Saint-Paul-de-Varax | Ain median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 20% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 17% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 18% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 30% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 27% | 32% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Ain median and France median: the median of compared communes
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Before 1919: that is when one in ten homes were built. Protection here reaches back to the 12th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €11.60/m² a month, lower than both Ain’s towns (€12.27/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Houses were 94% of what sold. House rents are put at about €11.35/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,503/m² | 30 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Of the graded crimes in Saint-Paul-de-Varax, burglary came up most often (2025). On average over 2023–2025, every 1,000 residents saw 4.5 violent offenses and 9.6 graded property crimes a year. In all, 17 offenses reached the police record here in 2025.
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 · Small counts of other physical violence, sexual violence, vehicle theft, theft from vehicles and criminal damage go unpublished (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the département’s average stands in, 55.0% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Heritage and museums in and near Saint-Paul-de-Varax. Best known first.
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Saint-Paul-de-Varax yet.
Commune in Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Saint-Paul-de-Varax is a commune of 1,634 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
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-Paul-de-Varax | 1,634 | — | — | B− | — | D− |
| Péronnas | 6,444 | 7 | A | C+ | B | A |
| Chalamont | 2,533 | 7.2 | A | B+ | B+ | C+ |
| Saint-Denis-lès-Bourg | 6,160 | 7.9 | A | C+ | B | A |
| Villars-les-Dombes | 5,163 | 8.1 | A− | C | C | B |
| Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne | 5,250 | 8.4 | B− | B− | C | C |
| Bourg-en-Bresse | 42,372 | 8.6 | C | B− | D | C+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Saint-Paul-de-Varax has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Saint-Paul-de-Varax grades B− for cost of living.
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 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.