Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 1,258 residents, it is a town in Calvados, Normandy.
Homes are affordable: A year’s estimated rent on a 70 m² apartment is 34% of the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. It also does well on jobs & income — 0.4 jobs per working resident; 5.6% unemployment. Its weakest subject is walkability: 93% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 5% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Health lags: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 5% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025). Fontenay-le-Pesnel has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
Each subject compares Fontenay-le-Pesnel 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.
Fontenay-le-Pesnel has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Fontenay-le-Pesnel has 1 historic monument on the Culture ministry’s list, none at the highest level (classé).
The oldest protected part dates from the 12th century; the first monument here was protected in 1927.
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 Fontenay-le-Pesnel.
The median disposable income was €27,280 a year per consumption unit, higher than both Calvados’ towns (€24,235) and compared French towns (€25,970). At the census, 4.6% of commuters got to work without a car.
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.
Sales in Fontenay-le-Pesnel from July 2023 to June 2026: 24 houses and apartments.
Source: Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Its care home for older people (60 places) counts its residents as Fontenay-le-Pesnel’s; allowing for it, deaths were 5% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 144 deaths here from 2016 to 2025; there were 218, 52% more. The nearest emergency department to Fontenay-le-Pesnel is Hopital Prive St Martin Caen, 9.1 mi away. Also worth knowing: in Calvados, life expectancy at birth reaches 85.5 years for women and 78.9 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France.
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. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from D to B.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Collège pupils travel 2.2 mi to the nearest one.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège du Bois d'OrceauNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 106 | 92%−1 pt |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The protected list starts in the 12th century. Homes from before 1919 make up just over a tenth of the total, above both Calvados’ towns (8.1%) and compared French towns (7.4%).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
The 15-to-24 age group: 8.6%, below both Calvados’ towns (11%) and compared French towns (11%). Degrees are held by 31% of adults. Half of Fontenay-le-Pesnel is older than 41.6, half younger.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Calvados 52.0%, France 51.8%.
| Fontenay-le-Pesnel | Calvados median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 8.6% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 23% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 21% | 25% | 22% |
| No diploma | 18% | 23% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 28% | 28% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| Higher education | 31% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Calvados median and France median: the median of compared communes
Heritage and museums in and near Fontenay-le-Pesnel. Best known first.
Fontenay-le-Pesnel has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Église Saint-Aubin: Photo: Ikmo-ned · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Fontenay-le-Pesnel yet.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fontenay-le-Pesnel | 1,258 | — | — | B+ | — | C |
| Thue et Mue | 6,182 | 3.7 | A− | C | A+ | B |
| Rots | 2,544 | 5.4 | — | C | — | A |
| Verson | 4,059 | 5.6 | A | C− | B+ | B− |
| Fontaine-Étoupefour | 2,810 | 5.8 | — | B− | — | B+ |
| Carpiquet | 3,428 | 6.3 | B− | C− | B+ | B− |
| Villers-Bocage | 3,088 | 7.1 | A− | C | A− | C+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Fontenay-le-Pesnel has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 4.3 recorded violent incidents and 5.4 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
They grade B+, better than 68% of compared French towns. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Commune in Calvados, Normandy
Fontenay-le-Pesnel is a commune of 1,258 people in the Communauté de communes Seulles Terre et Mer. 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 November 9, 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.