Pons grades C− overall: better than 23% of compared French towns, and #32 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. Its weakest subject is safety (C−): an average of 10.4 recorded violent incidents and 21.4 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Its strongest is cost of living (B): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 4.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality.
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 Pons 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.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Pons.
History
More protected monuments for its size in Pons than in Charente-Maritime or compared French towns: 23 per 10,000 residents
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Homes from before 1919 make up 31% of the total, higher than both Charente-Maritime’s towns (8.7%) and compared French towns (7.4%). A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) has covered part of the town since 2001. Pons has 10 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 5 classé, the highest protection, and 5 inscrit, the second level. Among the classé monuments in the town is Ancien château de Pons.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Safety
Recorded crime per resident is higher in Pons than in 85% of compared French towns
All told, Pons had 132 recorded offenses in 2025. Jobs outnumber working residents in Pons (2,950 to 1,650): it draws people in from around. The commonest graded crime locally was criminal damage (2025).
10.4recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearC−Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage45
Family violence24
Burglary18
Theft from vehicles16
Vehicle theft15
Other physical violence14
Armed robbery0
Drug use33
Theft without violence32
Fraud32
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.
10.4
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
21.4
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
132
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
1.8%
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 · Small counts of sexual violence go unpublished (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the département’s average stands in, 1.8% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses. Crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its residents, so a town that draws people in from around can look higher.
Who lives here
A young town: 12% of people in Pons are 15 to 24, more than in both Charente-Maritime’s towns and compared French towns
People 65 and over make up 30% of the town, below Charente-Maritime’s towns (36%) but above compared French towns (22%). Among adults, 20% have a degree. The middle age in Pons is 50.3.
50.3median age
PonsCharente-Maritime medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
30%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma24%
CAP or BEP32%
Baccalauréat16%
Higher education20%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 93 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
83.0% of candidates passed the brevet at the collège within 5 km, 5 points below the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
At the lycées within 5 km of Pons, 92.1% passed the bac, below Charente-Maritime’s towns (93.8%) and close to compared French towns (92.9%). The town’s schools place #40 of 44 in Charente-Maritime on results.
96%passed the bac (general and technological)CSchool Grade
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
HousingCost of living B
Homes in Pons cost less than in both Charente-Maritime’s towns and compared French towns, with a median sale of €1,449/m²
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €10.83/m² a month, below Charente-Maritime’s towns (€12.46/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²) alike. Houses are advertised at an estimated €8.44/m² a month. Pons recorded 171 home sales from July 2023 to June 2026.
€1,449/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Pons€1,449/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Charente-Maritime median€3,369/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,491/m²
159
€10.83/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€8.86 to €13.23/m² a month)
4.3
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€8.44/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€23,790
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes de la Haute Saintonge
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Work & commuteJobs & income C
Money is tighter in Pons than in Charente-Maritime’s towns or compared French towns: the median disposable income is €23,020 a year per consumption unit
The unemployment rate comes to 12.6%. No commute at all: 5.0% of working residents in Pons at the census.
12%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving82%
On foot9%
Bicycle2%
Motorbike or scooter1%
Public transport1%
2,950
jobs based in Pons, 1.8 per working resident
12.6%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€23,020
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
5%
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 Pons run higher than in 56% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
The nearest emergency department to Pons is Centre hospitalier Jonzac, 11.1 mi away. Its two care homes for older people (94 places) count their residents as Pons’; allowing for them, deaths were 10% below expected. From 2016 to 2025, 655 residents of Pons died, against 631 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 4% more. In Charente-Maritime, life expectancy at birth reaches 85.5 years for women and 79.6 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France.
−10%deaths against expected, after care homesC+Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw104
Adjusted90
Median town88
Expected100
8
GPs in Pons · 3.8 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
11.1 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier Jonzac
12.9 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Ch de Saintonge Saintes
85.5 · 79.6
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Charente-Maritime, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Ancien château de Pons: Photo: Havang(nl) · CC0 · Ancien hôpital des Pèlerins: Photo: Cobber17 · CC BY 3.0 · Chapelle Saint-Gilles: Photo: Cobber17 · CC BY 3.0
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Pons
Is Pons safe?
It grades C− for safety, #29 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 18 burglaries and 45 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Pons good?
They grade C, better than 27% of compared French towns and #40 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. 96% of 163 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Émile Combes in 2025, at the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Pons expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Pons grades B for cost of living.
About Pons
Commune in Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Pons is a commune of 4,343 people in the Communauté de communes de la Haute Saintonge. 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
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.
