What it saves you on housing, it gives back elsewhere. Pupils here do less well than most (D−): bac results 4.4 points below the expected rate; brevet results 18 points below the expected rate. Safety is weaker too (D): an average of 16.4 recorded violent incidents and 22 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Where it does best is walkability: 85% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 23% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Homes are affordable: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 4.5 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. The overall grade lands at C−, #10 of 12 in Ardennes. On that grade it does better than just over a fifth of compared French towns.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior).
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 Rethel 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 Rethel.
Schools
Fewer pupils pass the brevet at the collèges near Rethel than in Ardennes’ towns or compared French towns: 71.4%
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
At the lycées within 5 km of Rethel, 88.6% passed the bac, about level with Ardennes’ towns (88.6%) and below compared French towns (92.9%). By results, schools here place #11 of 12 in Ardennes. The bac pro: 78% of 82 candidates passed at the vocational lycée within 5 km.
94%passed the bac (general and technological)D−School Grade
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Crime per resident in Rethel runs higher than in 94% of compared French towns
More of the graded crimes in Rethel were criminal damage than anything else (2025). Police and gendarmerie recorded 296 offenses locally in 2025. This Ardennes town comes 10th of the 12 compared towns in Ardennes on the Safety Grade. With 4,750 jobs for 2,800 working residents, Rethel draws people in from neighbouring communes.
16.4recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage114
Other physical violence51
Family violence44
Burglary36
Sexual violence23
Theft from vehicles19
Vehicle theft9
Theft without violence76
Drug use48
Fraud25
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.
16.4
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
22
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
296
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
0.2%
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, 0.2% 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.
Work & commuteJobs & income C−
On foot, Rethel works better than 89% of compared French towns
Half of residents lived on more than €22,530 a year per consumption unit, above Ardennes’ towns (€21,390) but below compared French towns (€25,970). The unemployment rate comes to 15.1%. No commute at all: 4.3% of working residents in Rethel at the census.
23%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving72%
On foot14%
Public transport7%
Bicycle2%
Motorbike or scooter1%
4,750
jobs based in Rethel, 1.7 per working resident
15.1%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€22,530
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
4%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A
Walkability: better than 89% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HousingCost of living A−
The median home in Rethel sells for €1,609/m², against €1,185/m² in Ardennes’ towns and €2,430/m² in compared French towns
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
No town in Ardennes costs more to buy into than Rethel, at €1,609/m², the highest of 13. Houses in Rethel sell for €1,643/m² and apartments for €1,394/m². The estimated advertised rent is €9.55/m² a month, higher than Ardennes’ towns (€8.19/m²) yet lower than compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
€1,609/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Rethel€1,609/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Ardennes median€1,185/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,643/m²
146
Apartments
€1,394/m²
44
€9.55/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€7.28 to €12.52/m² a month)
4.5
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€8.73/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,920
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes du Pays Rethélois
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Rethel skews young, with 11% of residents aged 15 to 24, more than in both Ardennes’ towns and compared French towns
People 65 and over make up 26% of the town, near Ardennes’ towns (25%) and higher than compared French towns (22%). Rethel has a median age of 47 years.
47median age
RethelArdennes medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
26%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma27%
CAP or BEP28%
Baccalauréat16%
Higher education22%
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 85 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Ardennes median and France median: the median of compared communes
History
Rethel: 3 historic monuments, 1 classé
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The pre-1919 share of homes is 2.5%. Among the classé monuments in Rethel is Église Saint-Nicolas. Its oldest listed monument dates from the 13th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HealthHealth C+
Rethel records 90 deaths for every 100 its ages predict, against 107 in Ardennes’ towns and 88 in compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Life expectancy at birth in Ardennes is 84.6 years for women and 77.7 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. France’s death rates at each age would predict 917 deaths in Rethel from 2016 to 2025; there were 1,023, 12% more. 5 GPs practise locally.
−10%deaths against expected, after care homesC+Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw112
Adjusted90
Median town88
Expected100
5
GPs in Rethel · 4.5 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
0.2 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier de Rethel
22.8 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Ch de Charleville Mezieres Hopital de Manchester
84.6 · 77.7
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Ardennes, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Louis Hachette: Adam Salomon, Public domain · Benjamin Afgour: Bigmatbasket, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Thomas Leseur: Lavallée, Etienne de (1737-1793), Public domain · Henri Jadart: G.Garitan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jean-Baptiste Basilide Billaudel: Edmond Prévôt, Public domain
Rethel’s neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Rethel
Is Rethel safe?
It grades D for safety, #10 of 12 in Ardennes. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 36 burglaries and 114 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Rethel good?
They grade D−, better than 4% of compared French towns. 94% of 160 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Paul Verlaine in 2025, 3 points below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Rethel expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Rethel grades A− for cost of living.
About Rethel
Commune in Ardennes, Grand Est
Rethel is a commune of 7,444 people in the Communauté de communes du Pays Rethélois. 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.
