Ussel grades B+ overall: better than 67% of compared French towns, and #7 of 11 in Corrèze. Its weakest subject is safety (C+): an average of 12.5 recorded violent incidents and 11.7 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Its strongest is cost of living (A−): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.2 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 overall grade uses the other six subjects.
Each subject compares Ussel 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.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HousingCost of living A−
Buying in Ussel costs less than in Corrèze’s towns or across compared French towns: the median sale is €1,094/m²
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Ussel sits below both Corrèze’s towns (€1,460/m²) and compared French towns (€2,430/m²) on this measure. In Ussel, houses go for €1,209/m² and apartments for €925/m².
€1,094/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Ussel€1,094/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Corrèze median€1,460/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,209/m²
173
Apartments
€925/m²
55
€10.32/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€8.14 to €13.07/m² a month)
3.2
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€7.51/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,110
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes Haute-Corrèze Communauté
INSEE, census 2023 · Corrèze median and France median: the median of compared communes
Safety
Ussel has more crime per resident than 62% of compared French towns
Police and gendarmerie recorded 236 offenses in the graded categories in Ussel in 2025. For vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, 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, 0.9% of the index here. With 5,850 jobs for 3,650 working residents, Ussel draws people from neighboring communes, and crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its number of residents.
12.5recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearC+Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage80
Family violence68
Other physical violence37
Sexual violence32
Burglary19
Armed robbery0
Fraud50
Theft without violence31
Drug use5
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.
12.5
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
11.7
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
236
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
0.9%
of the index rests on the département’s average, used where small counts aren’t published
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Work & commuteJobs & income C+
Ussel has 1.6 jobs for every resident in work
13.1% of Ussel’s working residents walked, cycled or took public transport to work in the 2023 census, against 13% for the median of compared French towns; 82% drove.
13%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving82%
On foot11%
Public transport1%
Motorbike or scooter1%
Bicycle1%
5,850
jobs based in Ussel, 1.6 per working resident
10.7%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€23,860
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
4%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
B
Walkability: better than 58% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth B−
Ussel’s death rate, adjusted for age and care homes, is higher than in 52% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
From 2016 to 2025, 1,169 residents of Ussel died, against 1,145 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 2% more. Its two care homes for older people (176 places) count their residents as Ussel’s; allowing for them, deaths were 11% below expected. 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.
−11%deaths against expected, after care homesB−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw102
Adjusted89
Median town88
Expected100
9
GPs in Ussel · 2.5 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
0.4 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier D Ussel
0.4 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier D Ussel
85.6 · 80.2
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Corrèze, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Jean-Pierre Bechter: Poudou99, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jules Dubernard: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain · Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani: Fédération Bancaire Française, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Paul Masson: Michel Laflandre, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ussel’s neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Ussel
Is Ussel safe?
It grades C+ for safety, #8 of 11 in Corrèze. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 19 burglaries and 80 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Ussel good?
They grade B, better than 61% of compared French towns and #5 of 12 in Corrèze. The lycée stands out: 99% of 121 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Bernart de Ventadour in 2025, 3 points above the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Ussel expensive to live in?
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €10.32/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Ussel grades A− for cost of living.
About Ussel
Commune in Corrèze, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Ussel is a commune of 9,187 people in the Communauté de communes Haute-Corrèze Communauté. 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
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.
