Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,394 in Aube, Grand Est.
Payns has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is walkability (D): 73% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 3% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. At the median price of €1,848/m², a 70 m² home costs 5.4 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté d'agglomération Troyes Champagne Métropole. Its strongest is health (B): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 17% 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 one thing Payns does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Payns 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 Payns as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Église Sainte-Maure, in Sainte-Maure, 4.5 mi away.
16% 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 Payns.
At the census, 2.9% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below Aube’s towns (15.7%) and compared French towns (13.4%) alike. Payns has 200 jobs for 650 working residents, 0.3 per worker. The median disposable income is €27,330 a year per consumption unit.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Degrees are held by 31% of adults. 19% are under 15, above Aube’s towns (17%) and compared French towns (17%) alike. The age that splits Payns in two is 41.7.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Aube 52.1%, France 51.8%.
| Payns | Aube median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 24% | 26% |
| 65+ | 17% | 25% | 22% |
| No diploma | 18% | 28% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| Higher education | 31% | 23% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Aube median and France median: the median of compared communes
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Life expectancy at birth in Aube is 84.2 years for women and 78.9 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. 78 deaths in Payns between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 94: 17% below. The nearest emergency department to Payns is Centre hospitalier de Troyes, 8.2 mi away.
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 · Care-home places are adjusted for by TownRatings, using a model rather than an official statistic. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C− to A.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Behind the median of €1,848/m²: 33 houses and apartments sold in Payns between July 2023 and June 2026. Advertised rents are estimated at €11.96/m² a month, about level with compared French towns (€12.41/m²) and above Aube’s towns (€10.07/m²). For a house, the estimated advertised rent is €9.39/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,848/m² | 33 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Nothing in Payns is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Wikidata places 1 person here, but the articles don’t both confirm Payns as the birthplace, so nobody is listed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payns | 1,394 | — | — | C+ | — | B |
| Saint-Lyé | 2,956 | 2 | A+ | B+ | A | A− |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Luc | 12,648 | 5.7 | C− | B+ | C+ | D |
| Les Noës-près-Troyes | 3,261 | 6.2 | B | B− | A | B+ |
| Sainte-Savine | 10,289 | 6.8 | C | B− | C | B |
| La Rivière-de-Corps | 3,692 | 7 | C+ | C | A | C+ |
| Pont-Sainte-Marie | 5,249 | 7.2 | C− | C+ | C+ | B− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Payns has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 2.7 recorded violent incidents and 9.9 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,848/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Payns grades C+ for cost of living.
Commune in Aube, Grand Est
Payns is a commune of 1,394 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Troyes Champagne Métropole. 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.