The picture is mixed. Its schools beat most: bac results a point above the expected rate; brevet results 3 points above the expected rate. Marennes-Hiers-Brouage grades B− overall, better than just over half of compared French towns, and ranks #21 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. Incomes are on the low side: 1 job per working resident; 14.2% unemployment. Cost of living is weaker too: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 6.9 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for safety, C+ for health and B for walkability.
Figures: brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
Each subject compares Marennes-Hiers-Brouage 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.
Remparts de Brouage · Classé · Photo: Jochen Jahnke 11:56, 18. Jan. 2008 (CET) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Marennes-Hiers-Brouage’s story
Marennes-Hiers-Brouage in pictures
On the Culture ministry’s list, Marennes-Hiers-Brouage counts 9 historic monuments: 5 classé at the top level of protection and 4 inscrit at the second.
That’s 15 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 92% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5.
The oldest protected part dates from the 15th century, and the first monument here was protected in 1840, on France’s very first list.
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 2009.
On the Culture ministry’s list, Marennes-Hiers-Brouage counts 9 historic monuments: 5 classé at the top level of protection and 4 inscrit at the second.
Église Saint-Pierre: Photo: Roromain69 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Maison de Richelieu: Photo: Cobber17 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Château de la Gataudière: Photo: Patrick Despoix · CC BY-SA 3.0
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage.
History
Old homes shape Marennes-Hiers-Brouage: 14% were built before 1919, more than in both Charente-Maritime’s towns and compared French towns
9historic monuments
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage is Église Saint-Pierre. For its size, Marennes-Hiers-Brouage has 15 protected monuments per 10,000 residents. Part of the town has been protected as a historic area since 2009. On the Culture ministry’s list, Marennes-Hiers-Brouage counts 9 historic monuments: 5 classé at the top level of protection and 4 inscrit at the second.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Who lives here
Fewer people in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage hold a degree than in Charente-Maritime’s towns or compared French towns: 19%
57median age
37% of residents are 65 or over, near Charente-Maritime’s towns (36%) and higher than compared French towns (22%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 7.2% of the population. Residents of Marennes-Hiers-Brouage have a median age of 57.
Marennes-Hiers-BrouageCharente-Maritime medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
37%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma26%
CAP or BEP31%
Baccalauréat17%
Higher education19%
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente-Maritime 53.1%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
INSEE, census 2023 · Charente-Maritime median and France median: the median of compared communes
Schools
93.0% of candidates passed the brevet at the collège within 5 km, 3 points above the expected rate
97%passed the bac (general and technological)A−School Grade
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Ranked by results, schools here are #11 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. At the general lycée, 97% of 157 candidates passed the bac, a point above the expected rate.
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
HousingCost of living C
Renting in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage costs less than in both Charente-Maritime’s towns and compared French towns, at an estimated advertised €11.04/m² a month
€2,404/m²median sale price
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Homes sold for a median €2,404/m², about level with compared French towns (€2,430/m²) and below Charente-Maritime’s towns (€3,369/m²). 297 houses and apartments changed hands in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage from July 2023 to June 2026. Among the homes sold, 91% were houses.
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Marennes-Hiers-Brouage€2,404/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Charente-Maritime median€3,369/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,402/m²
270
€11.04/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€8.57 to €14.24/m² a month)
6.9
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€9.13/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,400
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes du Bassin de Marennes
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Work & commuteJobs & income C
Marennes-Hiers-Brouage has higher unemployment than Charente-Maritime’s towns or compared French towns: 14.2%
10%walk, cycle or take transit
Median disposable income is €24,560 a year for each consumption unit. Jobs located in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage: 2,150, for 2,050 residents in work (1 each). Also worth knowing: 5.7% of the town’s working residents had no journey to work at the census.
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving82%
On foot6%
Bicycle4%
Motorbike or scooter2%
Public transport1%
2,150
jobs based in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage, 1 per working resident
14.2%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€24,560
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
6%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
B
Walkability: better than 59% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth C+
Allowing for age and care homes, deaths in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage run higher than in 59% of compared French towns
−9%deaths against expected, after care homesC+Health Grade
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
The nearest emergency department to Marennes-Hiers-Brouage is Centre hospitalier Rochefort, 11.7 mi away. Its care home for older people (212 places) counts its residents as Marennes-Hiers-Brouage’s; allowing for it, deaths were 9% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 993 deaths in the town from 2016 to 2025; there were 1,114, 12% more. Women in Charente-Maritime live to 85.5 on average and men to 79.6 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France.
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw112
Adjusted91
Median town88
Expected100
5
GPs in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage · 4.2 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
11.7 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier Rochefort
11.7 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier Rochefort
85.5 · 79.6
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Charente-Maritime, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Crime per resident in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage is lower than in 50% of compared French towns
6.6recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearB−Safety Grade
Violence against people averaged 6.6 per 1,000 residents a year over 2023–2025; graded property crimes averaged 14.9. In 2025, 134 offenses were recorded in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage. Among the graded crimes in the town, the most frequent was criminal damage (2025).
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage40
Other physical violence20
Sexual violence19
Burglary19
Family violence17
Theft from vehicles10
Vehicle theft9
Fraud37
Theft without violence34
Drug use16
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.
6.6
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
14.9
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
134
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
1.5%
of the index rests on the département’s average, used where small counts aren’t published
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · When armed robbery number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (1.5% of the index here). The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Jean Jacques Étienne Lucas: Antoine Maurin, Public domain
About Marennes-Hiers-Brouage
Commune in Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Marennes-Hiers-Brouage is a commune of 6,163 people in the Communauté de communes du Bassin de Marennes. 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
Population
6,163 (INSEE, census 2023)
Intercommunality
Communauté de communes du Bassin de Marennes
Département
Charente-Maritime (17)
Région
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Area
20.4 sq mi (52.7 km²)
INSEE code
17219
Marennes-Hiers-Brouage’s neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Marennes-Hiers-Brouage
Is Marennes-Hiers-Brouage safe?
It grades B− for safety, #19 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 19 burglaries and 40 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Marennes-Hiers-Brouage good?
They grade A−, better than 83% of compared French towns and #11 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Marennes-Hiers-Brouage expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so Marennes-Hiers-Brouage grades C for cost of living.
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.
