Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,619 in Cher, Centre-Val de Loire.
Orval has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its strongest is cost of living (A+): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.1 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 2 things Orval does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Orval 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 no building in Orval as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Ancienne forteresse de Montrond, in Saint-Amand-Montrond, 0.9 mi away.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Orval.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
58 sales of houses and apartments in Orval, from July 2023 to June 2026, give the median of €1,030/m². Houses made up 97% of the homes sold; apartments the rest.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,036/m² | 56 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Retirement age and beyond: 35% of residents are 65 or older. 7.8% of the population is aged 15 to 24, lower than both Cher’s towns (9.2%) and compared French towns (11%). Graduates make up 13% of adults.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Orval | Cher median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 11% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 7.8% | 9.2% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 15% | 20% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 35% | 29% | 22% |
| No diploma | 30% | 25% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 36% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 13% | 20% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Cher median and France median: the median of compared communes
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The closest collège is 1.7 mi off.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Jean MoulinNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 97 | 88%+2 pts |
| Lycée polyvalent Jean MoulinNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 128 | 90%−5 pts |
| Collège Jean ValetteBest against expectations: 5 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 90 | 91%+5 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Half of residents lived on more than €23,850 a year per consumption unit, about level with Cher’s towns (€24,000) and below compared French towns (€25,970). No commute at all: 3.8% of working residents in Orval at the census. 11.3% of people in the labour force have no job.
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.
Women in Cher live to 84 on average and men to 78.4 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. France’s death rates at each age would predict 245 deaths in Orval from 2016 to 2025; there were 249, 2% more. For a family doctor, residents of Orval have one GP on hand.
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 · The adjustment for care homes is TownRatings’ own modeling, not an official figure. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C to B+.
Museums, other places to visit and heritage in and near Orval. Best known first.
ChâteauChâteau de Montrond1.4 km southeast, in Saint-Amand-Montrond
MuseumMusée Saint-Vic2.4 km east, in Saint-Amand-MontrondAttractionAttractionLac de Virlay1.1 km northeast, in Saint-Amand-MontrondAttractionAttractionBase Nautique du Lac de Virlay1.2 km north, in Saint-Amand-MontrondTheme parkTheme parkSam Parc1.3 km north, in Saint-Amand-MontrondAttractionAttractionBocage de Noirlac2.5 km northwest, in Bruère-AllichampsPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Nothing in Orval is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Orval 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orval | 1,619 | — | — | A+ | — | B− |
| Saint-Amand-Montrond | 9,899 | 1.5 | B− | A | C | C+ |
| Dun-sur-Auron | 3,524 | 12 | A | A− | A− | D |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Orval has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 2.8 recorded violent incidents and 11 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. With 700 jobs for 550 working residents, Orval draws people from neighboring communes, and crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its number of residents.
They grade C+, better than 41% of compared French towns. 90% of 128 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Jean Moulin in 2025, 5 points below 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 €1,030/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Orval grades A+ for cost of living.
Commune in Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
Orval is a commune of 1,619 people in the Communauté de communes Cœur de France. 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.