Homes are affordable (A): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.4 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Melle’s overall grade, A, puts it better than 85% of compared French towns. The ranking puts it #14 of 21 in Deux-Sèvres. Add schools to its strengths: bac results at the expected rate; brevet results at the expected rate. What holds it back is safety — an average of 11.7 recorded violent incidents and 12.3 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for health, B for jobs & income and B− for walkability.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · amenities, INSEE BPE 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 Melle 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 Melle.
History
More protected monuments for its size in Melle than in Deux-Sèvres or compared French towns: 19 per 10,000 residents
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Melle has 11 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 5 classé, the highest protection, and 6 inscrit, the second level. Among the classé monuments locally is Ancienne église Saint-Savinien. Homes from before 1919 make up 20% of the total.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HousingCost of living A
Estimated advertised rents run lower in Melle than in Deux-Sèvres’ towns or across compared French towns: €8.47/m² a month
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The median sale price was €1,193/m², lower than both Deux-Sèvres’ towns (€1,508/m²) and compared French towns (€2,430/m²). Of the homes sold, 99% were houses. From July 2023 to June 2026, 225 homes were sold in Melle.
€1,193/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Melle€1,193/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Deux-Sèvres median€1,508/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,194/m²
223
€8.47/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€6.71 to €10.68/m² a month)
3.4
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€8.21/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
Who lives here
An older town: 33% of people in Melle are 65 or over, more than in Deux-Sèvres’ towns or compared French towns
Children under 15 count for 12% of the people here. People aged 15 to 24 make up 9.3% of the town, about level with Deux-Sèvres’ towns (9.6%) and below compared French towns (11%). Half of Melle is older than 53.8, half younger.
53.8median age
MelleDeux-Sèvres medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
33%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma25%
CAP or BEP27%
Baccalauréat18%
Higher education25%
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
INSEE, census 2023 · Deux-Sèvres median and France median: the median of compared communes
Schools
90.0% 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 bac pass rate near Melle is 98.0%, above both Deux-Sèvres’ towns (95.8%) and compared French towns (92.9%). The town’s pupils have a collège 0.9 mi away. By results, schools here place #13 of 18 in Deux-Sèvres.
98%passed the bac (general and technological)B+School Grade
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Safety
More crime per resident in Melle than in 62% of compared French towns
The police record for Melle lists 141 offenses in 2025. Jobs outnumber working residents in Melle (3,500 to 2,100): it draws people in from around. Also worth knowing: the graded crime recorded most locally was criminal damage (2025).
11.7recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearC+Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage44
Family violence28
Other physical violence23
Sexual violence18
Burglary15
Vehicle theft13
Theft without violence39
Drug use25
Fraud23
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.
11.7
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
12.3
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
141
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
1.3%
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 armed robbery 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, 1.3% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses. Crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its residents, so a town that draws people in from around can look higher.
Work & commuteJobs & income B
Melle has 1.7 jobs for every resident in work
Half of residents lived on more than €24,260 a year per consumption unit, close to Deux-Sèvres’ towns (€24,720) and below compared French towns (€25,970). At the census, 4.7% of working residents in Melle didn’t travel to work at all. The unemployment rate comes to 8.5%.
12%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving82%
On foot8%
Bicycle2%
Public transport2%
Motorbike or scooter2%
3,500
jobs based in Melle, 1.7 per working resident
8.5%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€24,260
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
5%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
B−
Walkability: better than 54% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth B−
Melle is 16.1 mi from the nearest emergency department
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
From 2016 to 2025, 1,228 residents of Melle died, against 1,091 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 13% more. Its three care homes for older people (282 places) count their residents as Melle’s; allowing for them, deaths were 13% below expected. There are 6 general practitioners locally. In Deux-Sèvres, life expectancy at birth reaches 85.3 years for women and 79.4 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France.
−13%deaths against expected, after care homesB−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw113
Adjusted87
Median town88
Expected100
6
GPs in Melle · 4.2 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
16.1 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Polyclinique D Inkermann
16.4 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
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Melle
Is Melle safe?
It grades C+ for safety, #17 of 21 in Deux-Sèvres. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 15 burglaries and 44 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Melle good?
They grade B+, better than 70% of compared French towns and #13 of 18 in Deux-Sèvres. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Melle expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Melle grades A for cost of living.
About Melle
Commune in Deux-Sèvres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Melle is a commune of 5,752 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.
