Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,091 in Ariège, Occitanie.
Bélesta has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is jobs & income (D−): 0.7 jobs per working resident; 16.8% unemployment. Its strongest is cost of living (A): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The 3 things Bélesta does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Bélesta 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 Culture ministry lists no building in Bélesta as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Ruines du château, in Puivert, 6.3 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 Bélesta.
Degrees are held by 22% of adults. 38% of residents are 65 or over, above both Ariège’s towns (27%) and compared French towns (22%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 6.9% of the population.
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Bélesta | Ariège median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 9.9% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 6.9% | 10% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 38% | 27% | 22% |
| No diploma | 25% | 21% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 32% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 13% | 20% | 18% |
| Higher education | 22% | 25% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Ariège median and France median: the median of compared communes
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
56 sales of houses and apartments in Bélesta, from July 2023 to June 2026, give the median of €998/m². Houses accounted for 96% of sales, apartments for the rest.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,040/m² | 54 |
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.
Adjusted for age and care homes, Bélesta records 92 deaths per 100 expected, close to Ariège’s towns (95) and above compared French towns (88). France’s death rates at each age would predict 217 deaths locally from 2016 to 2025; there were 289, 33% more. In Ariège, women can expect to live 84.9 years and men 80 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France.
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 step is TownRatings’ own calculation, not an official number. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C− to B.
The median disposable income was €21,300 a year per consumption unit, below Ariège’s towns (€23,470) and compared French towns (€25,970) alike. The census found 9.3% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Also worth knowing: at the census, nearly a tenth of working residents in Bélesta didn’t travel to work at all.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Police and gendarmerie recorded 14 offenses in Bélesta in 2025. Graded property crimes ran at 8.9 per 1,000 residents a year, and violence against people at 4.9 (2023–2025 average). Of the graded crimes in the town, 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 · When other physical violence, sexual violence, burglary, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (44.6% of the index here). The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Nothing in Bélesta is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
2 notable people were born in Bélesta.
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
Bélesta has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €998/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Bélesta grades A for cost of living.
Commune in Ariège, Occitanie
Bélesta is a commune of 1,091 people in the Communauté de communes du Pays d'Olmes. 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 October 30, 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.