Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,196 in Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Saint-Michel grades B overall: better than 56% of compared French towns, and #18 of 26 in Charente. Its weakest subject is jobs & income (C): 1.6 jobs per working resident; 13.6% unemployment. At the median price of €1,707/m², a 70 m² home costs 4.7 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Angoulême. Its strongest is walkability (B+): 67% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 11% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
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 Saint-Michel does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Saint-Michel 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 Saint-Michel: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 0 inscrit (the second level).
The oldest protected part dates from the 12th century, and the first monument here was protected in 1840, on France’s very first list.
Museums and heritage in and near Saint-Michel. Best known first.
MuseumMusée d'Angoulême3.5 km east, in Angoulême
MuseumMusée de la Société archéologique et historique de la Charente4.2 km east, in Angoulême
MuseumMusée du papier d'Angoulême3.6 km northeast, in AngoulêmeChâteauChâteauChâteau de l'Oisellerie1.9 km south, in La CouronneAbbeyAbbeyAbbaye Saint-Ausone3 km east, in AngoulêmePhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Michel.
On this, Saint-Michel is above both Charente’s towns (28%) and compared French towns (22%). Children under 15 make up 13% of residents.
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Saint-Michel | Charente median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 9.6% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 23% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 32% | 28% | 22% |
| No diploma | 22% | 22% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 30% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 25% | 25% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Charente median and France median: the median of compared communes
In the comparison, Saint-Michel comes above both Charente’s towns (11.0%) and compared French towns (10.1%). The median disposable income is €23,490 a year per consumption unit.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Police and gendarmerie recorded 91 offenses in the graded categories in Saint-Michel in 2025. For family 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, 4.7% of the index here. With 1,950 jobs for 1,250 working residents, Saint-Michel draws people from neighboring communes, and crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its number of residents.
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
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The median price, €1,707/m², comes from 131 sales of houses and apartments in Saint-Michel from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,698/m² | 99 |
| Apartments | €1,755/m² | 32 |
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.
For Saint-Michel, that is below both Charente’s towns (88) and compared French towns (88). From 2016 to 2025, 792 residents of Saint-Michel died, against 654 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 21% more. The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic.
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
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Saint-Michel: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 0 inscrit (the second level).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Saint-Michel sits above both Charente’s towns (88.8%) and compared French towns (87.5%) on this measure.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège PuygrelierNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 98 | 93%+2 pts |
| Lycée privé Saint-Paul PrivateNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 145 | 99%±0 pts |
| Collège Michelle PalletBest against expectations: 21 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 47 | 74%+21 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Saint-Michel has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Église Saint-Michel: Photo: rosier · CC BY-SA 3.0
2 notable people were born in Saint-Michel.
Laura Badler: Coldcream16000, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mickaël Larpe: Thomas Ducroquet, CC BY-SA 3.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Michel | 3,196 | — | B | B | C | B |
| Fléac | 3,861 | 2.2 | A | A− | A+ | C− |
| La Couronne | 7,765 | 2.2 | C | B | D | C+ |
| Angoulême | 41,908 | 2.4 | C+ | B | D− | B+ |
| Saint-Yrieix-sur-Charente | 7,539 | 2.5 | B | B | C+ | B+ |
| Gond-Pontouvre | 5,862 | 3.6 | C | B+ | D | C− |
| Soyaux | 10,087 | 4 | C+ | B | C− | C+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades C for safety, #19 of 26 in Charente. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 19 burglaries and 41 acts of criminal damage.
They grade B, better than 55% of compared French towns and #14 of 23 in Charente. 99% of 145 candidates passed the bac at Lycée privé Saint-Paul in 2025, at the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,707/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. By type: houses €1,698/m² (99 sales), apartments €1,755/m² (32 sales). Estimated advertised apartment rents are €10.85/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Saint-Michel grades B for cost of living.
Commune in Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Saint-Michel is a commune of 3,196 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) · 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 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.