Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 2,220 residents in Deux-Sèvres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Saint-Gelais’s best grade is for health: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 30% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Homes are affordable: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 5.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. The weak point is walkability (C−).
Figures: deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, INSEE census 2023. Saint-Gelais 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 Saint-Gelais does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Saint-Gelais 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.
Saint-Gelais has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Saint-Gelais has 3 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 2 classé, the highest protection, and 1 inscrit, the second level.
The oldest protected part dates from the 15th century; the first monument here was protected in 1945.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Gelais.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Women in Deux-Sèvres live to 85.3 on average and men to 79.4 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. Adjusted mortality in Saint-Gelais: 70 deaths for every 100 expected. 100 deaths locally between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 142: 30% below.
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 · The adjustment for care homes is TownRatings’ own modeling, not an official figure.
Households’ median disposable income: €29,910 a year per consumption unit. For its 1,100 residents in work, Saint-Gelais has 300 jobs: 0.3 each. At the census, 3.3% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Behind the median of €2,034/m²: 75 houses and apartments sold in Saint-Gelais between July 2023 and June 2026. Of the homes sold, 99% were houses.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,049/m² | 74 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Children under 15 make up 19%, higher than both Deux-Sèvres’ towns (16%) and compared French towns (17%). 19% of residents have reached 65. Aged 15 to 24: nearly one in ten residents.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%.
| Saint-Gelais | Deux-Sèvres median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 8.7% | 9.6% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 26% | 22% |
| No diploma | 8.4% | 20% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 25% | 29% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 43% | 25% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Deux-Sèvres median and France median: the median of compared communes
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Saint-Gelais is Église Saint-Gélais. The earliest of these monuments dates from the 15th century. This Deux-Sèvres town has 3 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 2 classé, the highest protection, and 1 inscrit, the second level. 10% of its homes were built before 1919, below Deux-Sèvres’ towns (16%) but above compared French towns (7.4%).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Saint-Gelais has 3 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 2 classé, the highest protection, and 1 inscrit, the second level.
Église Saint-Gélais: Photo: Eliane Promis · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Temple protestant: Photo: Eliane Promis · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Saint-Gelais yet.
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
Saint-Gelais has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 2.8 recorded violent incidents and 3.1 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,034/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Saint-Gelais grades A− for cost of living.
Commune in Deux-Sèvres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Saint-Gelais is a commune of 2,220 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Niortais. 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 November 9, 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.
