Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 8,941 people live in this town, in Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.
A good place to live, if you can afford it. With a B+ overall, Velaux is better than 73% of compared French towns and ranks #2 of 99 in Bouches-du-Rhône. Its best grade is for schools: brevet results 3 points above the expected rate. Housing is expensive (D−): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 12.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality.
Figures: brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 2 things Velaux does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Velaux 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 →
On the Culture ministry’s list, Velaux counts 1 historic monument: 1 classé at the top level of protection and 0 inscrit at the second.
4.3% 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 Velaux.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
In Velaux, houses go for €4,586/m² and apartments for €3,778/m². The estimated advertised rent is €15.85/m² a month, about level with Bouches-du-Rhône’s towns (€15.81/m²) and above compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Houses made up 83% of the homes sold; apartments the rest.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €4,586/m² | 184 |
| Apartments | €3,778/m² | 37 |
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.
Results rank its schools #3 of 96 in Bouches-du-Rhône. For the general bac, the closest lycée is 5.7 mi away.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège RoquepertuseNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 205 | 97%+3 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Graded property crimes ran at 14 per 1,000 residents a year, and violence against people at 2.7 (2023–2025 average). Velaux’s tally for 2025: 122 recorded offenses. Criminal damage topped the graded crimes in Velaux (2025).
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 · For other physical violence and sexual violence, the count isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in a year of the last three), so the index uses the département’s average, 5.2% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
11 GPs practise in Velaux. The nearest emergency department to Velaux is Aphm Antenne Smur Marignane site Helico Securite Civile Base, 7 mi away. France’s death rates at each age would predict 795 deaths here from 2016 to 2025; there were 823, 4% more. Life expectancy in Bouches-du-Rhône: 86 years for women and 81 for men (2025); France averages 85.9 and 80.3.
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 · That adjustment for care homes is a model of TownRatings’ own, not official data.
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
4.3% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Bouches-du-Rhône’s towns (6.9%) and compared French towns (7.4%). Among the classé monuments in Velaux is Site archéologique de Roquepertuse.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, above both Bouches-du-Rhône’s towns (22%) and compared French towns (22%). One measure of family life: 17% of residents are under 15. Those aged 15 to 24 account for 11% of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Bouches-du-Rhône 51.9%, France 51.8%.
| Velaux | Bouches-du-Rhône median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 10% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 23% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 24% | 22% | 22% |
| No diploma | 12% | 18% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 21% | 22% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 46% | 36% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Bouches-du-Rhône median and France median: the median of compared communes
6.5% of the labour force were unemployed, below Bouches-du-Rhône’s towns (9.4%) and compared French towns (10.1%) alike. The census found 6.6% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. 2,550 jobs are based in Velaux, for 3,950 working residents (0.6 per worker).
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Heritage, museums and other places to visit in and near Velaux. Best known first.
Velaux has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Site archéologique de Roquepertuse: Photo: Robert Valette · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wikidata places 1 person here, but the articles don’t both confirm Velaux 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Velaux | 8,941 | — | B+ | D− | B+ | C+ |
| Coudoux | 3,825 | 2 | — | D− | — | A |
| Ventabren | 5,839 | 2.4 | B | D− | C | A |
| Rognac | 12,576 | 2.7 | C | D | B− | C− |
| La Fare-les-Oliviers | 9,039 | 3.1 | B | D− | B | B− |
| Berre-l'Étang | 13,832 | 5.1 | D− | D | C+ | C− |
| Éguilles | 8,479 | 5.8 | B+ | D− | B− | A+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B+ for safety, #8 of 99 in Bouches-du-Rhône. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 37 burglaries and 39 acts of criminal damage.
They grade A, better than 93% of compared French towns and #3 of 96 in Bouches-du-Rhône. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Velaux grades D− for cost of living.
Commune in Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Velaux is a commune of 8,941 people in the Métropole d'Aix-Marseille-Provence. 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 November 4, 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.