The picture is mixed. Prices are high against local incomes: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 12 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its standout strength is safety (A−) — an average of 6.5 recorded violent incidents and 9.7 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Walkability is a strength too (A−) — 75% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 16% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. All told, that adds up to a B− overall, better than 46% of compared French towns. That places it #22 of 43 in Alpes-Maritimes. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for health and B for jobs & income.
Figures: recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · 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 Vence 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.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Vence.
HousingCost of living D−
Homes in Vence sell for €4,364/m² at the median, against €4,877/m² in Alpes-Maritimes’ towns and €2,430/m² in compared French towns
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
In Vence, houses go for €5,568/m² and apartments for €4,076/m². The estimated advertised rent is €18.35/m² a month, about level with Alpes-Maritimes’ towns (€18.66/m²) and above compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Among the homes sold, 31% were houses.
€4,364/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Vence€4,364/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Alpes-Maritimes median€4,877/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€5,568/m²
326
Apartments
€4,076/m²
725
€18.35/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€14.68 to €22.93/m² a month)
12
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€21.30/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€25,530
median annual income per consumption unit, Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Work & commuteJobs & income B
On foot, Vence works better than 79% of compared French towns
Vence has 5,000 jobs for 8,350 working residents, 0.6 per worker. 16.2% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census. Half of residents lived on more than €28,120 a year per consumption unit, about level with Alpes-Maritimes’ towns (€28,120) and above compared French towns (€25,970).
16%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving75%
On foot9%
Public transport6%
Motorbike or scooter4%
Bicycle1%
5,000
jobs based in Vence, 0.6 per working resident
9.7%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€28,120
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
5%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A−
Walkability: better than 79% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Recorded crime per resident is lower in Vence than in 76% of compared French towns
Over 2025, Vence logged 361 recorded offenses. The graded crime recorded most locally was criminal damage (2025).
6.5recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearA−Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage149
Family violence61
Other physical violence49
Burglary40
Sexual violence32
Vehicle theft16
Theft from vehicles14
Theft without violence132
Fraud126
Drug use92
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.
6.5
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
9.7
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
361
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
0.4%
of the index rests on the département’s average, used where small counts aren’t published
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · For armed robbery, 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, 0.4% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
History
Vence has 11 historic monuments, 5 classé
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Homes from before 1919 make up nearly a tenth of the total. Among the classé monuments in Vence is Ancienne cathédrale de la Nativité-de-Notre-Dame. Per 10,000 residents, Vence counts 5.5 protected monuments, above both Alpes-Maritimes’ towns (2.3) and compared French towns (2.5). 6 of the 11 are churches, chapels and other religious buildings.
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Vence is a graduates’ town: 41% hold a degree, more than in both Alpes-Maritimes’ towns and compared French towns
Over-65s are 28% of the population. Children under 15 make up 14%, below Alpes-Maritimes’ towns (16%) and compared French towns (17%) alike. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 8.9% of the population.
49.5median age
VenceAlpes-Maritimes medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
28%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma15%
CAP or BEP20%
Baccalauréat18%
Higher education41%
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Alpes-Maritimes 52.2%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
INSEE, census 2023 · Alpes-Maritimes median and France median: the median of compared communes
HealthHealth B
Vence has a lower adjusted death rate than 63% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Vence has 20 family doctors. Its three care homes for older people (259 places) count their residents as Vence’s; allowing for them, deaths were 16% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 2,596 deaths in the town from 2016 to 2025; there were 2,378, 8% fewer. In Alpes-Maritimes, women can expect to live 86.5 years and men 81.1 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France.
−16%deaths against expected, after care homesBHealth Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw92
Adjusted84
Median town88
Expected100
20
GPs in Vence · 3.5 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
4.3 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Polyclinique Saint Jean
4.3 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Polyclinique Saint Jean
86.5 · 81.1
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Alpes-Maritimes, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs: Photo: D. Chauvin Original uploader was Dchauvinfr at fr.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 1.0 · Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence: m-louis .® from Osaka, Japan, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Colonnes romaines: Photo: Jacques MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fontaine publique: Photo: Didier Chauvin Original uploader was Dchauvinfr at fr.wikipedia · CC BY 1.0
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Vence
Is Vence safe?
It grades A− for safety, #14 of 43 in Alpes-Maritimes. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 40 burglaries and 149 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Vence good?
They grade C, better than 30% of compared French towns and #39 of 46 in Alpes-Maritimes. 96% of 343 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Henri Matisse in 2025, 2 points below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Vence expensive to live in?
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Vence grades D− for cost of living.
About Vence
Commune in Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Vence is a commune of 19,917 people in the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur. 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
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.
