Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 5,811 people live in this town, in Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Nieul-sur-Mer does the important things well, at a cost. Its strongest subject is safety — an average of 2.2 recorded violent incidents and 7.1 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. The town’s overall grade, A, puts it better than 90% of compared French towns. The ranking puts it #3 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. Health outcomes beat most towns: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 26% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Buying in is costly (D): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 9.5 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality.
Figures: recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · 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 3 things Nieul-sur-Mer does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Nieul-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.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Nieul-sur-Mer has 3 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 1 classé, the highest protection, and 2 inscrit, the second level.
The oldest protected part dates from the 13th century; the first monument here was protected in 1920.
Heritage, gardens and museums in and near Nieul-sur-Mer. Best known first.
MuseumMuséum d'Histoire naturelle de La Rochelle4.9 km south, in La RochelleChâteauChâteauChâteau du Portailin townGardenGardenJardin des plantes de La Rochelle4.9 km south, in La RochelleMuseumMuseumMaison du graffiti ancien3.6 km northeast, in MarsillyFortFortPorte Dauphine4.5 km south, in La RochellePhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Nieul-sur-Mer.
The commonest graded crime in Nieul-sur-Mer was criminal damage (2025). Recorded offenses here came to 50 in 2025. No compared town in Charente-Maritime has less graded crime per resident than Nieul-sur-Mer: it ranks first of 44.
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, sexual violence, armed robbery and vehicle theft, this figure isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the index uses the département’s average instead, 12.6% of the index here. Because that share is over 10%, this Safety Grade is less sure than most. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The estimated advertised rent is €13.96/m² a month, above Charente-Maritime’s towns (€12.46/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²) alike. Houses are advertised at an estimated €12.75/m² a month. Between July 2023 and June 2026, buyers took 200 homes in Nieul-sur-Mer.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €3,674/m² | 185 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
573 deaths in Nieul-sur-Mer between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 703: 19% below. At birth, a girl in Charente-Maritime can expect 85.5 years and a boy 79.6 (2025); across France, 85.9 and 80.3. 6 GPs practise locally.
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 · Allowing for care homes is a TownRatings estimate, not a published statistic.
Just over a third of residents are 65 or over, lower than Charente-Maritime’s towns (36%) yet higher than compared French towns (22%). Children are 13% of the town. People aged 15 to 24 make up 7.5% of the town.
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
| Nieul-sur-Mer | Charente-Maritime median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 12% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 7.5% | 7.6% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 17% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 34% | 36% | 22% |
| No diploma | 14% | 19% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 25% | 29% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 38% | 27% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Charente-Maritime median and France median: the median of compared communes
Unemployment runs at 8.2%. Nieul-sur-Mer holds 1,050 jobs; 2,250 of its residents are in work, so 0.5 jobs each. At the census, 5.0% of working residents in Nieul-sur-Mer went to work by public transport.
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.
Near Nieul-sur-Mer, 95.8% of lycée candidates passed the bac, higher than both Charente-Maritime’s towns (93.8%) and compared French towns (92.9%). For collège, the closest is 2.4 mi away. The town’s schools place #16 of 44 in Charente-Maritime on results.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Jean GuitonNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 233 | 97%+2 pts |
| Lycée polyvalent Léonce VieljeuxNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 367 | 97%−1 pt |
| Collège Pierre Mendès FranceBest against expectations: 13 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 98 | 79%+13 pts |
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.
Churches, chapels and other religious buildings, 2 of the 3, make up the bulk. Among the classé monuments in Nieul-sur-Mer is Ancien domaine du Portail. 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
Nieul-sur-Mer has 3 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 1 classé, the highest protection, and 2 inscrit, the second level.
Ruines de l'ancien prieuré de Sermaize: Photo: Guiguilacagouille · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Église Saint-Philibert: Photo: Patrick Despoix · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Nieul-sur-Mer 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nieul-sur-Mer | 5,811 | — | A | D | A+ | A |
| L'Houmeau | 3,000 | 1.4 | — | D | — | B+ |
| Lagord | 7,802 | 1.8 | B+ | D | B− | B |
| Marsilly | 3,176 | 2.3 | — | D | — | A+ |
| Puilboreau | 6,765 | 3 | C | D | C− | D |
| La Rochelle | 79,851 | 3.2 | C− | D | D | B |
| Saint-Xandre | 5,677 | 3.3 | B+ | D | A+ | B+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades A+ for safety, #1 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 8 burglaries and 26 acts of criminal damage.
They grade B+, better than 68% of compared French towns and #16 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. 97% of 367 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Léonce Vieljeux in 2025, a point below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Nieul-sur-Mer grades D for cost of living.
Commune in Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Nieul-sur-Mer is a commune of 5,811 people in the Communauté d'agglomération de La Rochelle. 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.
