Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,995 in Aude, Occitanie.
La Palme has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is jobs & income (D): 0.4 jobs per working resident; 13.8% unemployment. At the median price of €2,537/m², a 70 m² home costs 7.6 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté d'agglomération Le Grand Narbonne. Its strongest is walkability (B+): 94% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 8% 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 2 things La Palme does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares La Palme 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’s list holds 1 historic monument in La Palme; none is classé, France’s top protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 16th century; the first monument here was protected in 1926.
11% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in La Palme.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
2 GPs practise in La Palme. The nearest emergency department to La Palme is Centre hospitalier de Narbonne Hotel Dieu, 14.2 mi away. From 2016 to 2025, 207 residents of La Palme died, against 191 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 8% more. Average lifespans in Aude: 84.4 years for women, 78.3 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 nationally.
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 · This figure includes a care-home adjustment that TownRatings models; no official statistic exists.
Unemployment runs at 13.8%. The median disposable income was €25,410 a year per consumption unit, higher than Aude’s towns (€23,350) and near compared French towns (€25,970). Bus, tram or train carried 3.2% of working residents in La Palme to work at the census.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €10.79/m² a month, close to Aude’s towns (€10.99/m²) and below compared French towns (€12.41/m²). The median price, €2,537/m², comes from 91 sales of houses and apartments in La Palme from July 2023 to June 2026. Of the homes sold, 98% were houses.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,566/m² | 89 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Retirement age and beyond: 29% of residents are 65 or older. 17% are under 15, higher than Aude’s towns (15%) and near compared French towns (17%). Among adults, 32% have a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aude 52.3%, France 51.8%.
| La Palme | Aude median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 7.2% | 8.9% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 19% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 29% | 29% | 22% |
| No diploma | 15% | 21% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 20% | 18% |
| Higher education | 32% | 25% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Aude median and France median: the median of compared communes
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Before 1919: that is when just over one in ten homes were built. Its oldest listed monument dates from the 16th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Heritage and other places to visit in and near La Palme. Best known first.
La Palme has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Porte de la Barbacane: Photo: ArnoLagrange · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wikidata places 2 people here, but for none of them do the articles confirm La Palme 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Palme | 1,995 | — | — | C | D | D |
| Sigean | 5,657 | 3.8 | D | C+ | C+ | C− |
| Port-la-Nouvelle | 5,852 | 4 | D | C− | D | D− |
| Leucate | 4,562 | 7 | D− | D | D− | D |
| Salses-le-Château Pyrénées-Orientales | 3,965 | 11 | D− | C | C | C− |
| Gruissan | 5,032 | 11 | D− | D | D− | D |
| Le Barcarès Pyrénées-Orientales | 6,109 | 12 | D− | D− | D− | C |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It has more crime per resident than 86% of compared French towns: an average of 2.8 recorded violent incidents and 29.5 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. It grades D for safety.
Prices are close to the median of compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,537/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so La Palme grades C for cost of living.
Commune in Aude, Occitanie
La Palme is a commune of 1,995 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Le Grand Narbonne. 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.