Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,579 in Cher, Centre-Val de Loire.
Vasselay has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is walkability (D−): 0% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 2% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. At the median price of €1,810/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 de communes Terres du Haut Berry. Its strongest is jobs & income (A): 0.7 jobs per working resident; 6.2% unemployment.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The one thing Vasselay does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Vasselay 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 Vasselay as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Menhir dit La Pierre à la Femme, in Saint-Georges-sur-Moulon, 1.8 mi away.
16% 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 Vasselay.
1.9% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both Cher’s towns (11.9%) and compared French towns (13.4%). Unemployment stands at 6.2%.
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.
From 2016 to 2025, 94 residents of Vasselay died, against 98 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 4% fewer. The adjustment lowers most towns’ figures, so the comparison is what counts: the median of compared French towns is 12% below expected. The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from D to B+.
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
On this, Vasselay is above both Cher’s towns (15%) and compared French towns (17%). People 65 and over make up 17% of the town.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
| Vasselay | Cher median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 7% | 9.2% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 20% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 17% | 29% | 22% |
| No diploma | 12% | 25% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 30% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 35% | 20% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Cher median and France median: the median of compared communes
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The median price, €1,810/m², comes from 48 sales of houses and apartments in Vasselay from July 2023 to June 2026. The estimated advertised rent is €11.46/m² a month, above Cher’s towns (€9.78/m²) but below compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,810/m² | 48 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Police and gendarmerie recorded 13 offenses in the graded categories in Vasselay in 2025. For family violence, vehicle theft, theft from vehicles and criminal damage, 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, 53.0% of the index here.
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
Heritage and other places to visit in and near Vasselay. Best known first.
Nothing in Vasselay 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 Vasselay 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vasselay | 1,579 | — | — | B | — | C |
| Saint-Martin-d'Auxigny | 2,546 | 3.1 | — | A | — | D |
| Saint-Doulchard | 9,647 | 3.7 | B+ | C+ | C+ | B+ |
| Bourges | 64,186 | 5.1 | C+ | B | C− | C+ |
| Saint-Germain-du-Puy | 4,779 | 6 | C | B+ | C− | B− |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin | 3,681 | 7.1 | A | B | A+ | B− |
| Mehun-sur-Yèvre | 6,380 | 7.9 | C | A | C+ | D |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Vasselay has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 2.2 recorded violent incidents and 8.1 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Vasselay grades B for cost of living.
Commune in Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
Vasselay is a commune of 1,579 people in the Communauté de communes Terres du Haut Berry. 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.