A tough set of grades. Its weakest is safety (D) — an average of 13.5 recorded violent incidents and 24.7 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. At €2,317/m², the median price, 70 m² costs 6.4 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the Communauté d'agglomération Rochefort Océan. Fewer journeys need a car: 96% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 26% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Overall, that makes a D, better than 6% of compared French towns.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, INSEE census 2023 · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · 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.
Each subject compares Rochefort 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.
Hazard riskNot graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas–
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Pont transbordeur du Martrou · Classé · Photo: This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder . Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message . · CC BY-SA 3.0
Rochefort’s story
Rochefort in pictures
Rochefort has 19 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 10 classé, the highest protection, and 9 inscrit, the second level.
That’s 8.1 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 81% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5.
The oldest protected part dates from the 17th century; the first monument here was protected in 1925.
Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 2005.
1932First protected: Ancien Hôtel de Cheusse, dit Hôtel de l'Intendance maritime
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Rochefort.
Safety
Rochefort sees more crime per resident than 94% of compared French towns
Criminal damage topped the graded crimes in Rochefort (2025). Over 2025, Rochefort logged 846 recorded offenses. Jobs outnumber working residents in Rochefort (18,400 to 8,300): it draws people in from around.
13.5recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage356
Other physical violence159
Family violence101
Sexual violence81
Theft from vehicles60
Burglary50
Vehicle theft39
Theft without violence232
Drug use198
Fraud174
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.
13.5
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
24.7
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
846
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
0.1%
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 · For armed robbery, 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, 0.1% 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.
Work & commuteJobs & income C
Unemployment in Rochefort, 17.7%, runs above Charente-Maritime’s towns and compared French towns
25.7% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, higher than both Charente-Maritime’s towns (10.6%) and compared French towns (13.4%). Per consumption unit, the median disposable income is €23,220 a year.
26%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving69%
On foot11%
Bicycle8%
Public transport7%
Motorbike or scooter1%
18,400
jobs based in Rochefort, 2.2 per working resident
17.7%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€23,220
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
4%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A
Walkability: better than 93% 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 Rochefort run higher than in 83% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Adjusted mortality in Rochefort: 102 deaths for every 100 expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 3,065 deaths in the town from 2016 to 2025; there were 3,520, 15% more. Life expectancy at birth in Charente-Maritime is 85.5 years for women and 79.6 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. This Charente-Maritime town has 32 family doctors.
+2%deaths against expected, after care homesC−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw115
Adjusted102
Median town88
Expected100
32
GPs in Rochefort · 4.5 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
1.7 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier Rochefort
1.7 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
19 historic monuments and a protected historic area since 2005
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The pre-1919 share of homes is 25%. Among the classé monuments in Rochefort is Ancien Hôtel de Cheusse, dit Hôtel de l'Intendance maritime. Scaled to its population, that is 8.1 protected monuments for every 10,000 people locally. Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 2005.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Who lives here
An older town: 30% of residents are 65 or over
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24, higher than Charente-Maritime’s towns (7.6%) and near compared French towns (11%). Children are 13% of the town. The median resident of Rochefort is 50.7 years old.
50.7median age
RochefortCharente-Maritime medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
30%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma22%
CAP or BEP28%
Baccalauréat18%
Higher education27%
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
WomenFrance medianMen
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.
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Schools
86.2% of candidates passed the brevet at the three collèges within 5 km, 1.4 points below the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Its schools’ results rank #37 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. At the lycées within 5 km of Rochefort, 93.3% passed the bac, in line with Charente-Maritime’s towns (93.8%) and compared French towns (92.9%).
95%passed the bac (general and technological)CSchool Grade
Ancien Hôtel de Cheusse, dit Hôtel de l'Intendance maritime: Photo: Jarodbink · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Corderie de l'Arsenal: Photo: Berrucomons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Formes de radoub de l'arsenal: Photo: Myrabella · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hôtel de la Marine: Photo: yoyo · CC BY-SA 3.0
David Zurutuza: Giovanni Batista Rodriguez from San Sebastian-Donostia, España, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Charles Rigault de Genouilly: Pierre Louis Pierson, Public domain · Louis-René-Madeleine de Latouche-Tréville: Georges Rouget, Public domain · Rolland-Michel Barrin: Antoine Graincourt, Public domain · Romain Poite: Clément Bucco-Lechat, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bruno Irles: Cocoleonel, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rochefort’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 Rochefort
Is Rochefort safe?
It grades D for safety, #38 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 50 burglaries and 356 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Rochefort good?
They grade C, better than 33% of compared French towns and #37 of 44 in Charente-Maritime. 95% of 111 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Marcel Dassault in 2025, 3 points below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Rochefort expensive to live in?
By type: houses €2,313/m² (633 sales), apartments €2,333/m² (737 sales). Estimated advertised apartment rents are €12.45/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so Rochefort grades C for cost of living.
About Rochefort
Commune in Charente-Maritime, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Rochefort is a commune of 23,460 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Rochefort Océan. 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.
