Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 1,075 people, this town lies in Ardèche, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Homes are affordable: 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 5% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Nearly a quarter of its homes are second homes.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · employment, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025). Saint-Martin-de-Valamas 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.
The 3 things Saint-Martin-de-Valamas does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Saint-Martin-de-Valamas 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-de-Valamas 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-de-Valamas as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Oppidum de la Fare, in Saint-Andéol-de-Fourchades, 5.5 mi away.
21% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Martin-de-Valamas.
Degrees are held by nearly a fifth of adults. 9.4% are under 15, below Ardèche’s towns (16%) and compared French towns (17%) alike. What’s more, the share aged 15 to 24 is 7%.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ardèche 52.7%, France 51.8%.
| Saint-Martin-de-Valamas | Ardèche median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 9.4% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 7% | 9.9% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 14% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 40% | 27% | 22% |
| No diploma | 25% | 24% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 29% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 19% | 25% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Ardèche median and France median: the median of compared communes
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €8.63/m² a month, below Ardèche’s towns (€10.27/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²) alike. Renting a house costs an estimated €6.79/m² a month. From July 2023 to June 2026, 42 homes were sold in Saint-Martin-de-Valamas.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,174/m² | 36 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
The nearest emergency department to Saint-Martin-de-Valamas is Centre hospitalier de Privas Ardeche, 17.7 mi away. France’s death rates at each age would predict 230 deaths locally from 2016 to 2025; there were 318, 38% more. At birth, a girl in Ardèche can expect 85.9 years and a boy 79.7 (2025); across France, 85.9 and 80.3. The town has 6 family doctors.
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.
The median disposable income was €23,900 a year per consumption unit, higher than Ardèche’s towns (€22,735) yet lower than compared French towns (€25,970). 10.7% of people in the labour force have no job. At the census, 5.0% of working residents in Saint-Martin-de-Valamas didn’t travel to work at all.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Heritage, other places to visit and museums in and near Saint-Martin-de-Valamas. Best known first.
Nothing in Saint-Martin-de-Valamas is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
One notable person was born in Saint-Martin-de-Valamas.
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-de-Valamas | 1,075 | — | — | A | — | C |
| Le Cheylard | 2,803 | 3.4 | — | A | — | C+ |
| Le Chambon-sur-Lignon Haute-Loire | 2,501 | 8.9 | — | A− | — | B |
| Tence Haute-Loire | 3,111 | 13 | — | A | — | C |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Saint-Martin-de-Valamas has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 5 recorded violent incidents and 5.8 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Saint-Martin-de-Valamas grades A for cost of living.
Commune in Ardèche, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Saint-Martin-de-Valamas is a commune of 1,075 people in the Communauté de communes Val Eyrieux. 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) · 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 8, 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.