Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,486 in Calvados, Normandy.
School results are strong: bac results 1.4 points above the expected rate; brevet results 1.3 points below the expected rate. The weak point is cost of living (D) — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 9.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Jobs and pay trail most towns: 0.3 jobs per working resident; 10.0% unemployment. Health is a weak point: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 7% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns.
Figures: brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · employment, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025). Lion-sur-Mer 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 Lion-sur-Mer 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.
Lion-sur-Mer has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The 3 things Lion-sur-Mer does most differently from other towns.
Lion-sur-Mer has 3 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 2 classé, the highest protection, and 1 inscrit, the second level.
The oldest protected part dates from the 13th century; the first monument here was protected in 1913.
15% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
The list names few of Lion-sur-Mer’s 3 monuments; beside them, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Maison Louis, dite Castel Louis: Photo: Sylenius · CC BY-SA 3.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lion-sur-Mer.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Houses accounted for nearly three quarters of sales, apartments for the rest. Between July 2023 and June 2026, buyers took 108 homes in Lion-sur-Mer. Advertised rents are estimated at €13.30/m² a month, close to Calvados’ towns (€12.67/m²) and above compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €3,344/m² | 80 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Public transport took 4.7% of Lion-sur-Mer’s working residents to work at the census. At the census, 4.4% of working residents in Lion-sur-Mer didn’t travel to work at all.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The brevet pass rate near Lion-sur-Mer is 91.7%, above Calvados’ towns (87.5%) and compared French towns (87.5%) alike. At the vocational lycée within 5 km, 97% of 32 candidates passed the bac pro. For collège, the closest is 2.2 mi away.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Maîtrise Notre-Dame PrivateNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 171 | 99%+4 pts |
| Lycée général Cours Notre-Dame PrivateNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 107 | 99%±0 pts |
| Lycée professionnel Notre-Dame de Nazareth PrivateBest against expectations: 6 points above the expected rateVocational lycée | Vocational lycée | 32 | 97%+6 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
The share aged 15 to 24 is 9.3%. 31% of residents are 65 or over, above Calvados’ towns (25%) and compared French towns (22%) alike. Degrees are held by 38% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Calvados 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Lion-sur-Mer | Calvados median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.3% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 31% | 25% | 22% |
| No diploma | 15% | 23% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 24% | 28% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| Higher education | 38% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Calvados median and France median: the median of compared communes
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Weighed against its ages and care homes, Lion-sur-Mer records 93 deaths per 100 expected. From 2016 to 2025, 236 residents of Lion-sur-Mer died, against 254 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 7% fewer. The nearest emergency department to Lion-sur-Mer is Centre hospitalier Universitaire Cote de Nacre, 6.7 mi away. There are 2 general practitioners in the town.
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 · The adjustment for care homes is TownRatings’ own modeling, not an official figure. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C− to B.
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Houses and mansions, 2 of the 3, make up the bulk. Lion-sur-Mer has 3 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 2 classé, the highest protection, and 1 inscrit, the second level. The earliest of these monuments dates from the 13th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Museums, heritage and other places to visit in and near Lion-sur-Mer. Best known first.
MuseumSite Hillman4 km south, in Colleville-Montgomery
ChâteauDomaine de la Baronnie4.8 km west, in Douvres-la-DélivrandeArt galleryArt galleryGalerie d'art Le Trianonin townMonastery or conventMonastery or conventCouvent Notre-Dame-de-Fidélité3.4 km west, in Douvres-la-DélivrandeChâteauChâteauManoir de Prébois1.7 km southeast, in Hermanville-sur-MerPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Lion-sur-Mer yet.
Commune in Calvados, Normandy
Lion-sur-Mer is a commune of 2,486 people in the Communauté urbaine Caen la 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lion-sur-Mer | 2,486 | — | — | D | — | C+ |
| Hermanville-sur-Mer | 3,323 | 0.8 | — | C− | — | C+ |
| Luc-sur-Mer | 3,275 | 1.8 | A− | C− | A | C+ |
| Colleville-Montgomery | 2,586 | 1.9 | — | D | — | C |
| Douvres-la-Délivrande | 5,143 | 2.6 | A | C | A | C+ |
| Ouistreham | 9,212 | 3 | C+ | D | C+ | C |
| Biéville-Beuville | 3,840 | 4.2 | — | C− | — | B+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Lion-sur-Mer has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 2.2 recorded violent incidents and 11.9 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.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Lion-sur-Mer grades D for cost of living.
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.