Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. At B+ overall, Saint-Maixent-l'École is better than 72% of compared French towns and ranks #17 of 21 in Deux-Sèvres. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: 82% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 26% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. What holds it back is safety (D): an average of 18 recorded violent incidents and 18 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Homes sell for a median €1,228/m², so 70 m² costs 3.4 years of the median income per consumption unit in the Communauté de communes Haut Val de Sèvre. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for health and B− for jobs & income.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · 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 Saint-Maixent-l'École 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.
On the Culture ministry’s list, Saint-Maixent-l'École counts 5 historic monuments: 3 classé at the top level of protection and 1 inscrit at the second.
That’s 6.6 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 77% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5.
The oldest protected part dates from the 15th century; the first monument here was protected in 1879.
18% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
On the Culture ministry’s list, Saint-Maixent-l'École counts 5 historic monuments: 3 classé at the top level of protection and 1 inscrit at the second.
Ancienne église Saint-Léger: Photo: MOSSOT · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Porte Châlon: Photo: Eliane Promis · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Église abbatiale: Photo: Chris06 · CC0
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Maixent-l'École.
Work & commuteJobs & income B−
More commuters in Saint-Maixent-l'École walk, cycle or take the bus or train than in Deux-Sèvres’ towns or compared French towns: 26.2%
26%walk, cycle or take transit
The median disposable income is €22,140 a year per consumption unit. 5,050 jobs are based in Saint-Maixent-l'École, for 3,750 working residents (1.3 per worker). The unemployment rate here is 8.1%.
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving58%
On foot13%
Public transport9%
Bicycle5%
Motorbike or scooter1%
5,050
jobs based in Saint-Maixent-l'École, 1.3 per working resident
8.1%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€22,140
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
15%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A
Walkability: better than 93% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Saint-Maixent-l'École sees more crime per resident than 92% of compared French towns
18recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
On the Safety Grade, Saint-Maixent-l'École ranks 20th of the 21 compared towns in Deux-Sèvres. Police and gendarmerie figures for Saint-Maixent-l'École show 253 offenses in 2025. In 2025, criminal damage led the graded crimes here.
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage77
Family violence58
Other physical violence42
Sexual violence32
Burglary20
Theft from vehicles14
Vehicle theft10
Theft without violence69
Drug use31
Fraud22
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.
18
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
18
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
253
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
0.1%
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, 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, 0.1% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Schools
94.6% of candidates passed the brevet at the two collèges within 5 km, 7.6 points above the expected rate
98%passed the bac (general and technological)A−School Grade
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
For exam results, it comes #9 of 18 in Deux-Sèvres. At the general lycée, 98% of 110 candidates passed the bac, a point above the expected rate.
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
HousingCost of living A−
For cost of living, Saint-Maixent-l'École gets an A−
€1,228/m²median sale price
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
265 sales of houses and apartments in Saint-Maixent-l'École, from July 2023 to June 2026, give the median of €1,228/m². The estimated advertised rent is €10.60/m² a month, between Deux-Sèvres’ towns (€9.89/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). The sales split: 94% houses, the rest apartments.
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Saint-Maixent-l'École€1,228/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Deux-Sèvres median€1,508/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,229/m²
250
€10.60/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€8.44 to €13.31/m² a month)
3.4
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€7.46/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€25,650
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes Haut Val de Sèvre
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
History
Saint-Maixent-l'École keeps more of its old housing than Deux-Sèvres’ towns or compared French towns: 18% built before 1919
5historic monuments
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Saint-Maixent-l'École is Ancienne église Saint-Léger. Relative to its size, Saint-Maixent-l'École keeps 6.6 protected monuments per 10,000 residents. Its heritage reaches back to the 15th century. Churches, chapels and other religious buildings, 3 of the 5, make up the bulk.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Who lives here
A young town: 22% of people in Saint-Maixent-l'École are 15 to 24, more than in Deux-Sèvres’ towns and across compared French towns
35.5median age
14% are under 15, below Deux-Sèvres’ towns (16%) and compared French towns (17%) alike. Over-65s are just over a fifth of the population. The median resident of Saint-Maixent-l'École is 35.5 years old.
Saint-Maixent-l'ÉcoleDeux-Sèvres medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
22%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma20%
CAP or BEP23%
Baccalauréat27%
Higher education24%
Women and men · all residents
45% women, 55% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 120 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Deux-Sèvres median and France median: the median of compared communes
HealthHealth B−
Saint-Maixent-l'École has a higher adjusted death rate than 53% of compared French towns
−11%deaths against expected, after care homesB−Health Grade
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In Deux-Sèvres, women can expect to live 85.3 years and men 79.4 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. 966 deaths in Saint-Maixent-l'École between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 866: 11% above. Its two care homes for older people (198 places) count their residents as Saint-Maixent-l'École’s; allowing for them, deaths were 11% below expected. The nearest emergency department to Saint-Maixent-l'École is Polyclinique D Inkermann, 13.5 mi away.
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw111
Adjusted89
Median town88
Expected100
6
GPs in Saint-Maixent-l'École · 2.8 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
13.5 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Polyclinique D Inkermann
13.7 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
Jean Cavaillès: Jean Cavaillès, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Aristide Denfert-Rochereau: Ettienne Carjat, Public domain · Régis Loisel: Selbymay, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tugdual Derville: This illustration was made by Peter Potrowl ., CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jean Philippe Garran de Coulon: unknown (Frémy ?), Public domain · Pierre-Auguste Brunet-Houard: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain
About Saint-Maixent-l'École
Commune in Deux-Sèvres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Saint-Maixent-l'École is a commune of 7,595 people in the Communauté de communes Haut Val de Sèvre. 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
Population
7,595 (INSEE, census 2023)
Intercommunality
Communauté de communes Haut Val de Sèvre
Département
Deux-Sèvres (79)
Région
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Area
2 sq mi (5.2 km²)
INSEE code
79270
Saint-Maixent-l'École’s neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Saint-Maixent-l'École
Is Saint-Maixent-l'École safe?
It grades D for safety. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 20 burglaries and 77 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Saint-Maixent-l'École good?
They grade A−, better than 83% of compared French towns and #9 of 18 in Deux-Sèvres. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Saint-Maixent-l'École expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,228/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Saint-Maixent-l'École grades A− for cost of living.
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.
