Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3,549 people, this town lies in Allier, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Cheap to live in, with trade-offs. School results trail most towns: bac results 14 points below the expected rate; brevet results 4 points below the expected rate. Taken together, its subjects give Varennes-sur-Allier a C− overall, better than just over a fifth of compared French towns. Cost of living is its strong suit (A): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Health is a weak point: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 10% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025).
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
Each subject compares Varennes-sur-Allier 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 3 things Varennes-sur-Allier does most differently from other towns.
The Culture ministry lists no building in Varennes-sur-Allier as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Ancien château de Gayette, in Montoldre, 1.2 mi away.
13% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Nothing in Varennes-sur-Allier 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 Varennes-sur-Allier.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
At the collèges within 5 km of Varennes-sur-Allier, 80.0% passed the brevet, below both Allier’s towns (84.2%) and compared French towns (87.5%). Its schools’ results rank #19 of 21 in Allier. General-bac pupils go 5.3 mi to the nearest lycée.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Antoine de Saint-ExupéryNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 76 | 80%−4 pts |
| Lycée professionnel Val d'AllierNearest lycéeVocational lycée | Vocational lycée | 42 | 69%−14 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
The nearest emergency department to Varennes-sur-Allier is Ch Jacques Lacarin Vichy, 13.4 mi away. France’s death rates at each age would predict 457 deaths in the town from 2016 to 2025; there were 503, 10% more. Also worth knowing: in Allier, women can expect to live 84.8 years and men 78.6 (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 · The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €9.20/m² a month, close to Allier’s towns (€9.45/m²) and below compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Houses sell for €1,234/m² in Varennes-sur-Allier, apartments for €670/m². From July 2023 to June 2026, 146 homes were sold here.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,234/m² | 108 |
| Apartments | €670/m² | 38 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
15% of adults hold a degree, below Allier’s towns (22%) and compared French towns (30%) alike. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for just over a tenth of the town. Those 65 and older account for 30% of residents.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
| Varennes-sur-Allier | Allier median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 14% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 9.3% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 19% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 30% | 30% | 22% |
| No diploma | 32% | 24% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 30% | 29% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| Higher education | 15% | 22% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Allier median and France median: the median of compared communes
Per consumption unit, the median disposable income is €23,360 a year. 16.0% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, above both Allier’s towns (12.1%) and compared French towns (13.4%).
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
In 2025, 113 offenses were recorded in Varennes-sur-Allier. On average over 2023–2025, every 1,000 residents saw 11.3 violent offenses and 14.2 graded property crimes a year. Jobs outnumber working residents in Varennes-sur-Allier (1,550 to 1,200): it draws people in from around. Of the graded crimes locally, criminal damage came up most often (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 · For vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, the count isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in a year of the last three), so the index uses the département’s average, 3.5% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses. Crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its residents, so a town that draws people in from around can look higher.
Heritage and museums in and near Varennes-sur-Allier. Best known first.
3 notable people were born in Varennes-sur-Allier.
Auguste Chérion: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain
Commune in Allier, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Varennes-sur-Allier is a commune of 3,549 people in the Communauté de communes Entr'Allier Besbre et Loire. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varennes-sur-Allier | 3,549 | — | C− | A | C | D |
| Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule | 4,884 | 5.3 | C+ | A | D | B− |
| Saint-Germain-des-Fossés | 3,579 | 8 | B+ | A | A− | C |
| Creuzier-le-Vieux | 3,205 | 11 | A | B− | A+ | B+ |
| Lapalisse | 3,138 | 12 | A+ | A | B+ | B− |
| Cusset | 13,316 | 13 | C+ | B+ | B− | C |
| Vichy | 25,115 | 13 | C− | B | D | B− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades C for safety, #15 of 19 in Allier. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 15 burglaries and 44 acts of criminal damage.
They grade D, better than 5% of compared French towns and #19 of 21 in Allier. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Varennes-sur-Allier grades A 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.