Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,417 in Bas-Rhin, Grand Est.
Sand has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is walkability (C+): 99% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 10% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Its strongest is schools (A−): brevet results 0.9 points above the expected rate.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The one thing Sand does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Sand 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 Sand as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Ancienne église catholique Saint-André, dite chapelle du cimetière, in Meistratzheim, 5.6 mi away.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Sand.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
92.3% of candidates passed the brevet at the collèges within 5 km of Sand, near Bas-Rhin’s towns (90.8%) and higher than compared French towns (87.5%). The nearest general lycée is 3.3 mi away.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Robert SchumanNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 221 | 90%±0 pts |
| Collège privé Saint-Joseph PrivateBest against expectations: 3 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 91 | 98%+3 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
People 65 and over make up 19% of the town. The 15-to-24 age group: 9.9%, close to Bas-Rhin’s towns (10%) and below compared French towns (11%). Typical age in Sand: 42, the median.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Bas-Rhin 51.5%, France 51.8%.
| Sand | Bas-Rhin median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 10% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 28% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 22% | 22% |
| No diploma | 14% | 18% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 31% | 29% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| Higher education | 34% | 32% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Bas-Rhin median and France median: the median of compared communes
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
France’s property-sale records don’t cover Alsace and Moselle, which keep their own land register, so the Cost Grade here uses rent alone.
Source: Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Per consumption unit, the median disposable income is €28,250 a year. At the census, 9.7% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below Bas-Rhin’s towns (17.8%) and compared French towns (13.4%) alike.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In Bas-Rhin, women can expect to live 85 years and men 80.3 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. From 2016 to 2025, 75 residents of Sand died, against 88 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 14% fewer. The nearest emergency department to Sand is Centre hospitalier de Selestat, 11.7 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 · This figure includes a care-home adjustment that TownRatings models; no official statistic exists. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C− to A.
Heritage and museums in and near Sand. Best known first.
MuseumMusée Würth France Erstein4.2 km north, in ErsteinChâteauChâteauChâteau de Werde2 km east, in MatzenheimChâteauChâteauChâteau des Zorn de Bulach2.8 km northeast, in OsthouseMuseumMuseumMusée de Benfeld1.9 km southwest, in BenfeldPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Nothing in Sand 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 Sand 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sand | 1,417 | — | — | B | — | B |
| Benfeld | 5,973 | 1.1 | A− | C+ | B− | B |
| Huttenheim | 2,735 | 2 | A− | C | B+ | C+ |
| Erstein | 10,790 | 3.8 | B− | C+ | C | D |
| Gerstheim | 3,490 | 4.2 | — | B− | — | B− |
| Rhinau | 2,723 | 6.1 | — | B+ | — | C− |
| Hilsenheim | 2,604 | 6.9 | A+ | A− | A | B+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Sand has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 3.9 recorded violent incidents and 5.2 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
They grade A−, better than 78% of compared French towns. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Commune in Bas-Rhin, Grand Est
Sand is a commune of 1,417 people in the Communauté de communes du Canton d'Erstein. 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) · 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.