Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,987 in Ariège, Occitanie.
Lavelanet grades C+ overall: better than 44% of compared French towns, and #6 of 11 in Ariège. At the median price of €953/m², a 70 m² home costs 3.1 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté de communes du Pays d'Olmes. Its strongest is walkability (A−): 95% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 16% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 3 things Lavelanet does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Lavelanet 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 1 historic monument in Lavelanet, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 12th century; the first monument here was protected in 1950.
Wikidata records 2 people born in Lavelanet before 1900, the earliest Jean-Baptiste Clauzel, in 1746.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lavelanet.
Police and gendarmerie recorded 207 offenses in the graded categories in Lavelanet in 2025. On the Safety Grade, Lavelanet ranks 9th of the 11 compared towns in Ariège. Violence against people ran at 17.2 per 1,000 residents a year and the graded property crimes at 15.9 (2023–2025 average).
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
Lavelanet sits above both Ariège’s towns (13.5%) and compared French towns (10.1%) on this measure. The median disposable income is €20,010 a year per consumption unit.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
That puts Lavelanet above both Ariège’s towns (27%) and compared French towns (22%). Children under 15 make up 13% of residents.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| Lavelanet | Ariège median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.4% | 10% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 33% | 27% | 22% |
| No diploma | 32% | 21% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| Higher education | 16% | 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.
On this, Lavelanet is below both Ariège’s towns (€9.99/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). No town in Ariège costs less to buy into than Lavelanet, at €953/m², the lowest of 11. The median price, €953/m², comes from 235 sales of houses and apartments in Lavelanet from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €971/m² | 214 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The bac pass rate near Lavelanet is 87.0%, below both Ariège’s towns (94.1%) and compared French towns (92.9%). Schools rank #2 of 10 in Ariège.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Louis PasteurNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 46 | 72%−5 pts |
| Lycée polyvalent Joseph-Marie JacquardNearest lycéeVocational lycée | Vocational lycée | 38 | 87%+4 pts |
| Collège Victor HugoBest against expectations: 6 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 58 | 93%+6 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.
From 2016 to 2025, 984 residents of Lavelanet died, against 980 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 0% more. Its care home for older people (83 places) counts its residents as Lavelanet’s; allowing for it, deaths were 7% below expected. The adjustment lowers most towns’ figures, so the comparison is what counts: the median of compared French towns is 12% below expected. The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic.
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
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Lavelanet, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Museums and gardens in and near Lavelanet. Best known first.
MuseumMusée du textile et du peigne en corne de Lavelanetin townMuseumMuseumMusée du textile et du peigne en cornein townGardenGardenPotager Urbain de Lamartinein townPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Lavelanet has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Chapelle du cimetière de Bensa: Photo: BLUMJ · CC BY-SA 3.0
20 notable people were born in Lavelanet.
Perrine Laffont: Catholympique from Mandelieu, France, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Benoît Baby: palmipode, CC BY 2.0 · Yoann Barbas: Jérémy-Günther-Heinz Jähnick, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bénédicte Taurine: G.Garitan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cédric Gomez: François Pietrzak, CC BY 3.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lavelanet | 5,987 | — | C+ | A− | D | C+ |
| Mirepoix | 3,172 | 11 | B− | B− | B | C |
| Foix | 9,934 | 12 | C | A− | D | C− |
| Varilhes | 3,487 | 14 | A | B+ | B+ | A |
| Tarascon-sur-Ariège | 3,085 | 14 | C− | B+ | C+ | C |
| La Tour-du-Crieu | 3,230 | 15 | A− | C | A+ | A− |
| Saint-Jean-du-Falga | 2,851 | 16 | B+ | B | B+ | B |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades D for safety, #9 of 11 in Ariège. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 11 burglaries and 67 acts of criminal damage. With 2,450 jobs for 1,700 working residents, Lavelanet draws people from neighboring communes, and crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its number of residents.
They grade B+, better than 67% of compared French towns and #2 of 10 in Ariège. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €953/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Lavelanet grades A− for cost of living.
Commune in Ariège, Occitanie
Lavelanet is a commune of 5,987 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.