Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,410 in Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Balzac has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is walkability (D): 60% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 3% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Its strongest is cost of living (A): A year’s estimated rent on a 70 m² apartment is 31% of 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.
Each subject compares Balzac 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 →
The Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Balzac, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 17th century; the first monument here was protected in 2007.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Balzac.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
That puts Balzac below both Charente’s towns (€10.82/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
Source: Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
On this, Balzac is above both Charente’s towns (€24,645) and compared French towns (€25,970). At the census, 2.7% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train. Balzac has 250 jobs for 600 working residents, 0.4 per worker.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In the comparison, Balzac comes below both Charente’s towns (88) and compared French towns (88). The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C+ to A.
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
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Near Balzac, 97.0% of lycée candidates passed the bac, above both Charente’s towns (93.6%) and compared French towns (92.9%).
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège René CassinNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 97 | 87%−4 pts |
| Lycée polyvalent privé Saint-Joseph L'Amandier PrivateNearest lycéeVocational lycée | Vocational lycée | 66 | 97%+1 pt |
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.
The Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Balzac, none of them classé, France’s highest protection. 12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
9% of residents are 15 to 24 and 24% are 65 or over, against 9.6% and 28% in the median compared commune of Charente. 31% of adults who have left education hold a higher-education diploma (Charente 25%, France 30%).
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%.
| Balzac | Charente median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 9.6% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 24% | 28% | 22% |
| No diploma | 15% | 22% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 31% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 31% | 25% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Charente median and France median: the median of compared communes
Balzac has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Château de Balzac: Photo: rosier · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Balzac 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balzac | 1,410 | — | — | A | — | A− |
| Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente | 7,539 | 2.5 | B | B | C+ | B+ |
| Gond-Pontouvre | 5,862 | 2.8 | C | B+ | D | C− |
| Champniers | 5,281 | 3 | B+ | A− | B | B |
| Fléac | 3,861 | 3.5 | A | A− | A+ | C− |
| La Boixe | 2,841 | 3.7 | A | A− | A | C+ |
| L'Isle-d'Espagnac | 5,682 | 4.2 | A− | B | B | A− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Balzac has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 3.5 recorded violent incidents and 4 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
They grade B+, better than 66% of compared French towns. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Commune in Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Balzac is a commune of 1,410 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Angoulême. 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) · 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 October 30, 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.