Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 1,021 people, lies in Cher, Centre-Val de Loire.
Where it does best is cost of living (A) — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.8 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. It is hard to get around without a car: 1% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 2% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Incomes are on the low side: 0.2 jobs per working resident; 7.9% unemployment. Homes change hands at a median €1,324/m².
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023. Cours-les-Barres has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The 2 things Cours-les-Barres does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Cours-les-Barres 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.
Cours-les-Barres has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry lists no building in Cours-les-Barres as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Domaine d’Orbigny, in Pontaubert, 2.3 mi away.
20% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cours-les-Barres.
At the census, 1.6% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below Cher’s towns (11.9%) and compared French towns (13.4%) alike. Of those in the labour force, 7.9% are unemployed. Households’ median disposable income: €25,850 a year per consumption unit.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Renting a house costs an estimated €9.01/m² a month. Between July 2023 and June 2026, buyers took 33 homes in Cours-les-Barres.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,324/m² | 33 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Near Cours-les-Barres, 86.0% of lycée candidates passed the bac, below Cher’s towns (92.4%) and compared French towns (92.9%) alike. For collège, the closest is 2.6 mi away.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Paul LangevinNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 104 | 93%+2 pts |
| Lycée professionnel Pierre Bérégovoy, sites Fourchambault et NeversNearest lycéeVocational lycée | Vocational lycée | 85 | 86%±0 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
The share of residents under 15 is 17%. Just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over, between Cher’s towns (29%) and compared French towns (22%). Degrees are held by 25% of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
| Cours-les-Barres | Cher median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 8.7% | 9.2% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 20% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 26% | 29% | 22% |
| No diploma | 16% | 25% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 33% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 25% | 20% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Cher median and France median: the median of compared communes
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
France’s death rates at each age would predict 88 deaths in Cours-les-Barres from 2016 to 2025; there were 76, 14% fewer. In Cher, women can expect to live 84 years and men 78.4 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. The nearest emergency department to Cours-les-Barres is Hopital Pierre Beregovoy, 5.3 mi away.
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 · This figure includes a care-home adjustment that TownRatings models; no official statistic exists. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C− to A.
Nothing in Cours-les-Barres is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
3 notable people were born in Cours-les-Barres.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cours-les-Barres | 1,021 | — | — | A | — | B |
| Fourchambault Nièvre | 3,992 | 2.6 | B− | A | C+ | D |
| Garchizy Nièvre | 3,648 | 3 | B+ | A | A | D |
| Marzy Nièvre | 3,623 | 3.7 | A− | B | A | B− |
| Varennes-Vauzelles Nièvre | 9,146 | 5.4 | B+ | B+ | B− | A− |
| Nevers Nièvre | 33,085 | 6.3 | C | A− | D | C+ |
| La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois | 3,151 | 6.4 | C+ | A+ | B+ | C |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Cours-les-Barres has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 4.4 recorded violent incidents and 5.8 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 74% of compared French towns. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Cours-les-Barres grades A for cost of living.
Commune in Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
Cours-les-Barres is a commune of 1,021 people in the Communauté de communes Portes du Berry entre Loire et Val d'Aubois. 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.