A town of contrasts. It is a safe place by the numbers (A+): an average of 4.7 recorded violent incidents and 6.3 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Celles-sur-Belle’s overall grade of A puts it better than 94% of compared French towns, #10 of 21 in Deux-Sèvres. Add cost of living to its strengths — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.8 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Most journeys need a car (C−): just over two in five residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 6% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Health is weaker too: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 5% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns.
Figures: recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025).
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 Celles-sur-Belle 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.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Celles-sur-Belle.
Safety
Recorded crime per resident is lower in Celles-sur-Belle than in 96% of compared French towns
For 2025, the figures show 57 offenses in Celles-sur-Belle. This Deux-Sèvres town comes 2nd of the 21 compared towns in Deux-Sèvres on the Safety Grade. More of the graded crimes in the town were sexual violence than anything else (2025).
4.7recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearA+Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Sexual violence13
Criminal damage13
Family violence12
Other physical violence12
Burglary7
Armed robbery0
Theft without violence13
Fraud11
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.
4.7
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
6.3
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
57
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
16.7%
of the index rests on the département’s average, used where small counts aren’t published
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · For vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, the count isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in a year of the last three), so the index uses the département’s average, 16.7% of the index here. Because that share is over 10%, this Safety Grade is less sure than most. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
HousingCost of living A
Renting in Celles-sur-Belle costs less than in Deux-Sèvres’ towns or compared French towns, at an estimated advertised €9.39/m² a month
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The median price, €1,333/m², comes from 121 sales of houses and apartments in Celles-sur-Belle from July 2023 to June 2026. Among the homes sold, 99% were houses. A house rents for an estimated €7.31/m² a month.
€1,333/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Celles-sur-Belle€1,333/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Deux-Sèvres median€1,508/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,338/m²
120
€9.39/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€7.28 to €12.12/m² a month)
3.8
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€7.31/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,390
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes Mellois en Poitou
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Schools
95.0% of candidates passed the brevet at the collège within 5 km, at the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The closest lycée for the general bac is 4.1 mi off. On school results, the town ranks #10 of 18 in Deux-Sèvres. The town’s pupils have a collège 1.3 mi away.
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Work & commuteJobs & income B
Fewer people in Celles-sur-Belle are out of work than in Deux-Sèvres’ towns or across compared French towns: 7.0%
5.7% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, lower than both Deux-Sèvres’ towns (7.5%) and compared French towns (13.4%). 1,350 jobs are based in Celles-sur-Belle, for 1,700 working residents (0.8 per worker). Per consumption unit, the median disposable income is €25,240 a year.
6%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving90%
On foot3%
Bicycle1%
Public transport1%
Motorbike or scooter1%
1,350
jobs based in Celles-sur-Belle, 0.8 per working resident
7.0%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€25,240
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
3%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
C−
Walkability: better than 19% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth C
Celles-sur-Belle’s death rate, adjusted for age and care homes, is higher than in 70% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
4 GPs practise in Celles-sur-Belle. After the care-home adjustment, the town’s deaths ran at 95 per 100 expected, higher than both Deux-Sèvres’ towns (85) and compared French towns (88). France’s death rates at each age would predict 465 deaths in the town from 2016 to 2025; there were 552, 19% more. The nearest emergency department to Celles-sur-Belle is Polyclinique D Inkermann, 11.9 mi away.
−5%deaths against expected, after care homesCHealth Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw119
Adjusted95
Median town88
Expected100
4
GPs in Celles-sur-Belle · 3.1 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
11.9 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Polyclinique D Inkermann
12.2 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier de Niort
85.3 · 79.4
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Deux-Sèvres, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Celles-sur-Belle keeps more of its old housing than Deux-Sèvres’ towns or compared French towns: 21% built before 1919
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Its oldest listed monument dates from prehistory. Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 2016. Churches, chapels and other religious buildings, 3 of the 4, make up the bulk. Among the classé monuments in Celles-sur-Belle is Trois menhirs.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Who lives here
A typical mix of ages for France
Graduates make up 24% of adults. Line up the people of Celles-sur-Belle by age and the one in the middle is 46.5. Young adults of 15 to 24 are one in ten residents, higher than Deux-Sèvres’ towns (9.6%) and near compared French towns (11%).
46.5median age
Celles-sur-BelleDeux-Sèvres medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
23%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma20%
CAP or BEP31%
Baccalauréat19%
Higher education24%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About an even split. Median share of women: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%.
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Celles-sur-Belle
Is Celles-sur-Belle safe?
It grades A+ for safety, #2 of 21 in Deux-Sèvres. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 7 burglaries and 13 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Celles-sur-Belle good?
They grade A−, better than 81% of compared French towns and #10 of 18 in Deux-Sèvres. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Celles-sur-Belle expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,333/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Celles-sur-Belle grades A for cost of living.
About Celles-sur-Belle
Commune in Deux-Sèvres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Celles-sur-Belle is a commune of 3,829 people in the Communauté de communes Mellois en Poitou. 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.
