Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2,387 residents make their home in this town in Deux-Sèvres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Where it does best is cost of living: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.4 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work: just over two in five residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 5% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. The local economy is weaker than most: 0.5 jobs per working resident; 6.8% unemployment. The median sale price is €1,181/m².
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023. Courlay has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The one thing Courlay does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Courlay 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.
Courlay has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry lists no building in Courlay as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Église Notre-Dame, in Bressuire, 5.7 mi away.
11% 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 Courlay.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
House rents are put at about €7.32/m² a month. From July 2023 to June 2026, 90 homes were sold in Courlay. That is the middle of 90 sales of houses and apartments locally from July 2023 to June 2026, against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns and €1,508/m² for the median of compared towns in Deux-Sèvres.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,181/m² | 90 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
At the census, 5.2% of commuters got to work without a car. Half of residents lived on more than €23,930 a year per consumption unit, close to Deux-Sèvres’ towns (€24,720) and below compared French towns (€25,970).
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Those 65 and older account for 28% of residents. People aged 15 to 24 make up nearly a tenth of the town, below Deux-Sèvres’ towns (9.6%) and compared French towns (11%) alike. One measure of family life: 16% of residents are under 15.
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%.
| Courlay | Deux-Sèvres median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 8.5% | 9.6% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 28% | 26% | 22% |
| No diploma | 26% | 20% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 28% | 29% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 21% | 25% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Deux-Sèvres median and France median: the median of compared communes
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Its care home for older people (74 places) counts its residents as Courlay’s; allowing for it, deaths were 13% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 317 deaths locally from 2016 to 2025; there were 349, 10% more. The nearest emergency department to Courlay is Site hospitalier Faye L Abbesse, 9.4 mi away. In Deux-Sèvres, women can expect to live 85.3 years and men 79.4 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France.
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 · That adjustment for care homes is a model of TownRatings’ own, not official data. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C to B+.
Heritage, museums and other places to visit in and near Courlay. Best known first.
Nothing in Courlay is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Wikidata places 2 people here, but for none of them do the articles confirm Courlay as the birthplace, so nobody is listed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courlay | 2,387 | — | — | A | — | B− |
| Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre | 5,121 | 4.3 | A+ | A | A− | B+ |
| Cerizay | 4,793 | 5.5 | B+ | A | B+ | B |
| Bressuire | 19,970 | 5.8 | B+ | B | B− | A |
| Nueil-les-Aubiers | 5,483 | 12 | A+ | A | A− | B |
| La Châtaigneraie Vendée | 2,600 | 12 | A− | A | B− | D |
| Pouzauges Vendée | 5,668 | 13 | A | B+ | B+ | B+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Courlay has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 2.3 recorded violent incidents and 2.8 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Courlay grades A for cost of living.
Commune in Deux-Sèvres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Courlay is a commune of 2,387 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Bocage Bressuirais. 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.