Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,487 in Ariège, Occitanie.
Varilhes grades A overall: better than 91% of compared French towns, and #1 of 11 in Ariège. At the median price of €1,769/m², a 70 m² home costs 5 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté d'agglomération L'agglo Foix-Varilhes. Its strongest is health (A): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 28% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The one thing Varilhes does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Varilhes 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 2 historic monuments in Varilhes, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 16th century; the first monument here was protected in 1944.
Wikidata records 2 people born in Varilhes before 1900, the earliest Jean Étienne Éléonore Cassaing, in 1760.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Varilhes.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Varilhes sits below both Ariège’s towns (95) and compared French towns (88) on this measure. From 2016 to 2025, 324 residents of Varilhes died, against 414 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 22% fewer. 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
Police and gendarmerie recorded 60 offenses in the graded categories in Varilhes in 2025. For other physical violence, sexual violence, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, this figure isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the index uses the département’s average instead, 5.5% of the index here.
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
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The median price, €1,769/m², comes from 131 sales of houses and apartments in Varilhes from July 2023 to June 2026. The estimated advertised rent is €9.99/m² a month, close to Ariège’s towns (€9.99/m²) and below compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,806/m² | 129 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
That puts Varilhes below both Ariège’s towns (10%) and compared French towns (11%).
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ariège 52.2%, France 51.8%.
| Varilhes | Ariège median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 10% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 26% | 27% | 22% |
| No diploma | 15% | 21% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Higher education | 29% | 25% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Ariège median and France median: the median of compared communes
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry lists 2 historic monuments in Varilhes, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
On this, Varilhes is below both Ariège’s towns (13.5%) and compared French towns (10.1%). Varilhes has 1,200 jobs for 1,500 working residents, 0.8 per worker. 7.6% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
The Culture ministry lists 2 historic monuments in Varilhes, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
Maison en pans de bois: Photo: jean-claude aiglehoux · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Maison en pans de bois: Photo: jean-claude aiglehoux · CC BY-SA 3.0
3 notable people were born in Varilhes.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varilhes | 3,487 | — | A | B+ | B+ | A |
| Saint-Jean-du-Falga | 2,851 | 2.6 | B+ | B | B+ | B |
| La Tour-du-Crieu | 3,230 | 4.1 | A− | C | A+ | A− |
| Pamiers | 16,473 | 4.9 | C | B+ | D | C |
| Foix | 9,934 | 6 | C | A− | D | C− |
| Mirepoix | 3,172 | 13 | B− | B− | B | C |
| Saverdun | 4,808 | 13 | D | C+ | C | D |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B+ for safety, #3 of 11 in Ariège. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 12 burglaries and 37 acts of criminal damage.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,769/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Varilhes grades B+ for cost of living.
Commune in Ariège, Occitanie
Varilhes is a commune of 3,487 people in the Communauté d'agglomération L'agglo Foix-Varilhes. 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.
