Sainte-Feyre · Père Igor · CC BY-SA 4.0How Creuse stacks up
Creuse sits near the middle of France’s départements, 59th of 97 overall: best on cost of living, weakest on getting about.
Each subject puts an official figure for the whole département beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
52nd of 100B−48/100 Near the middle for safety. Creuse has 4 graded towns with this measure, fewer than the 5 needed to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the official figure.
All eight crimes the town grades count (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, damage): 17.8 per 1,000 a year (France 25.2), 11th of 100.
Source: SSMSI, crime recorded by police and gendarmerie by commune, 2023 to 2025; where a commune’s count is hidden (five or fewer cases), SSMSI’s average for the département’s hidden communes, which adds up to the département’s own total; INSEE populations.
Creuse has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Schools
24th of 100A−77/100 Better than most départements for schools. Creuse has 4 graded towns with this measure, fewer than the 5 needed to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the official figure.
Value added at the brevet (results against what the pupils’ backgrounds predict): +0.7 points (France −1.0), 25th of 100.
Source: DEPP, 2025 brevet results and value added (IVAC) for every collège in the département with published results, weighted by candidates.
Creuse has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Cost of living
1st of 97A+100/100 Among France’s best départements for cost of living. Creuse has 4 graded towns with this measure, fewer than the 5 needed to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the official figure.
A year’s rent for a 70 m² flat: 30% of median income (France 45%), 5th of 97.
Typical price: €850 per m², the median of its communes’ sale prices (France €2,740), 1st of 97.
Typical advertised rent for a flat: €8.2 per m² a month (France €14.1).
Source: DVF sales July 2023 to June 2026, houses and flats; ANIL/DHUP rent map 2025 (predicted advertised rents, charges included); INSEE Filosofi 2023 incomes. The département’s price is the median of its communes’ median prices, weighted by sales, and its income the average of its communes’ medians, weighted by residents: INSEE’s and DVF’s own département figures aren’t loaded yet.
Creuse has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Health
96th of 100D−4/100 Among France’s weakest départements for health. Creuse has 4 graded towns with this measure, fewer than the 5 needed to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the official figure.
Deaths 2016–2025 against those France’s rates for each age give: 1.13 (France 1.00), 92nd of 100.
Source: INSEE life expectancy by département, 2025; INSEE deaths by commune of residence 2016 to 2025, against France’s rates by age and sex.
Creuse has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Jobs & income
74th of 100C26/100 Behind most départements for jobs and income. Creuse has 4 graded towns with this measure, fewer than the 5 needed to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the official figure.
Unemployment (census, ages 15–64): 10.9% (France 11.4%), 53rd of 100.
Source: INSEE Filosofi 2023 (median disposable income per consumption unit; the département’s figure is the average of its communes’ medians, weighted by residents); INSEE census 2023 (unemployment, ages 15 to 64).
Creuse has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Getting about
100th of 100D−0/100 Among France’s weakest départements for getting about. Creuse has 4 graded towns with this measure, fewer than the 5 needed to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the official figure.
Drive to work: 88% (France 72%).
Source: INSEE census 2023, main way of getting to work; people who don’t travel to work left out.
Creuse has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
Flood risk
Not gradedShown, not graded. France has no national map of flood zones yet (flood maps cover designated areas only), so flood risk isn’t graded for towns or départements. These figures show the record instead.
Communes with a flood or coastal-flood risk plan in force: 12% (France as a whole 34%).
Source: Géorisques: CatNat natural-disaster declarations (GASPAR) and natural-risk prevention plans (PPRN), every commune.
Towns aren’t graded on flood risk either. Each town’s Flood & hazards page lists its disaster declarations, risk plans, clay, seismic zone and radon.
Growth
91st of 100D9/100 Among France’s weakest départements for growth. Creuse has 4 graded towns with this measure, fewer than the 5 needed to compare town by town, so the grade rests on the official figure.
Since 2017: −2.6% (France +2.4%), 91st of 100.
Source: INSEE census populations, 2012, 2017 and 2023.
Creuse has 4 graded towns of 2,500 or more with this measure, too few to compare town by town (we need 5); its grade rests on the official figure.
How Creuse compares with its neighbours
| Creuse | Allier | Cher | Corrèze | Indre | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C+ 4059th of 97 | C+ 4455th of 97 | C 2672nd of 97 | B− 4653rd of 97 | C 2771st of 97 |
| Safety | B− 4848th official | A− 7830th official · 40% in top towns | B− 4716th official · 13% in top towns | B 6345th official · 31% in top towns | B− 4540th official · 21% in top towns |
| Schools | A− 7735th official | D 1376th official · 7% in top towns | C 2562nd official · 6% in top towns | C− 2265th official · 13% in top towns | C− 2387th official · 15% in top towns |
| Cost of living | A+ 1001st official | A 9110th official · 100% in top towns | A 909th official · 100% in top towns | A− 8232nd official · 100% in top towns | A+ 982nd official · 100% in top towns |
| Health | D− 494th official | C+ 4278th official · 13% in top towns | D 890th official · 0% in top towns | B 5737th official · 10% in top towns | C− 2198th official · 7% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | C 2692nd official | C− 1770th official · 3% in top towns | C+ 3759th official · 11% in top towns | B− 4555th official · 6% in top towns | C 3481st official · 9% in top towns |
| Getting about | D− 087th official | C+ 3663rd official · 0% in top towns | C+ 3566th official · 0% in top towns | D 1191st official · 0% in top towns | C 2674th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded | Not graded |
| Growth | D 991st official | D 1186th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2089th official · 4% in top towns | C− 1771st official · 0% in top towns | D 694th official · 0% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the département’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for France. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole département, its towns, villages and countryside together, added up from every one of its communes and ranked against France’s other départements. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the département’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for France. Quarters are of people, not towns, so a département of big cities isn’t marked down just for being urban. A département can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the département’s standing among France’s 100 départements, overseas included: the two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best département, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs and income 12, getting about 8, growth 8 (out of 100), over the subjects a département has, and needs a Safety grade. Départements with fewer than 5 graded towns are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A département figure averages everyone, so it can’t show whether a département is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Flood risk isn’t graded: France has no national flood map yet. Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana have no income figures, so no Cost grade and no overall grade. Alsace and Moselle publish no sale prices, so their cost uses rents. Where a commune’s crime count is hidden, the département’s average for its hidden communes stands in: added up, these give the département’s own total. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranking French towns against each other only, run #47 of October 30, 2026 · Département figures: every commune added up from SSMSI, INSEE, DEPP, DVF, ANIL and Géorisques data. 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.