Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,731 in Essonne, Île-de-France.
La Ferté-Alais grades B overall: better than 56% of compared French towns, and #23 of 91 in Essonne. Its weakest subject is cost of living (C): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 6.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its strongest is walkability (A−): 54% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 19% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The one thing La Ferté-Alais does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares La Ferté-Alais 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.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
La Ferté-Alais has 1 historic monument on the Culture ministry’s list: 1 classé, the highest protection, and 0 inscrit, the second level.
Maurice Bouilloux-Lafont, born in 1875, is the one person born in La Ferté-Alais before 1900 that Wikidata records.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in La Ferté-Alais.
Unemployment stood at 7.8%, below both Essonne’s towns (8.7%) and compared French towns (10.1%). For its 1,850 residents in work, La Ferté-Alais has 800 jobs: 0.4 each. After tax and benefits, the median income is €29,720 a year per consumption unit.
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.
The median price, €2,704/m², comes from 137 sales of houses and apartments in La Ferté-Alais from July 2023 to June 2026. Houses in La Ferté-Alais sell for €2,870/m² and apartments for €2,401/m². House rents are put at about €14.70/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,870/m² | 91 |
| Apartments | €2,401/m² | 46 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
17% of residents are children under 15. People 65 and over make up 19% of the town, above Essonne’s towns (16%) but below compared French towns (22%). Among adults, 36% have a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Essonne 51.3%, France 51.8%.
| La Ferté-Alais | Essonne median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 20% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 12% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 25% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 16% | 22% |
| No diploma | 16% | 15% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 22% | 20% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 36% | 39% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Essonne median and France median: the median of compared communes
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Before 1919: that is when 7.8% of homes were built. Among the classé monuments in La Ferté-Alais is Église Notre-Dame.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Near La Ferté-Alais, 91.1% of lycée candidates passed the bac, about level with Essonne’s towns (91.1%) and below compared French towns (92.9%). By results, schools here place #20 of 94 in Essonne.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Albert CamusNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 138 | 88%−1 pt |
| Lycée polyvalent Alexandre DenisNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 118 | 99%+2 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Violence against people averaged 9.6 per 1,000 residents a year over 2023–2025; graded property crimes averaged 10.8. Over 2025, La Ferté-Alais logged 89 recorded offenses. Of the graded crimes in the town, criminal damage came up most often (2025).
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.
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · For sexual violence, burglary 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, 13.3% of the index here. That estimated share passes 10%, so treat this Safety Grade with more caution than most. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
There are 2 general practitioners in La Ferté-Alais. The nearest emergency department to La Ferté-Alais is Centre hospitalier, 8.8 mi away. 367 deaths in the town between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 316: 16% above. Life expectancy at birth in Essonne is 86.4 years for women and 82.2 for men (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 · The adjustment for care homes is TownRatings’ own modeling, not an official figure.
Heritage, other places to visit and museums in and near La Ferté-Alais. Best known first.
ChâteauChâteau du Saussay4.4 km north, in Ballancourt-sur-Essonne
ChâteauChâteau de Villiers1.3 km west, in CernyAbbeyAbbeyAbbaye de Villiers-aux-Nonnains1.7 km west, in CernyChâteauChâteauChâteau de D'Huison-Longueville3.4 km southwest, in D'Huison-LonguevilleChurchChurchChapelle Saint-Blaise de Ballancourt-sur-Essonne4.2 km north, in Ballancourt-sur-EssonnePhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
La Ferté-Alais has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Église Notre-Dame: Photo: Cyrilb1881 · CC BY-SA 3.0
3 notable people were born in La Ferté-Alais.
Georges Martin: Basileus, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Maurice Bouilloux-Lafont: Agence Roll, 1927, Public domain · Daniel Pautrat: Laurie Beylier from France, CC BY-SA 2.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Ferté-Alais | 3,731 | — | B | C | B | B− |
| Cerny | 3,531 | 1.4 | A− | C | A− | C+ |
| Itteville | 6,746 | 2.9 | B− | C− | B+ | C |
| Ballancourt-sur-Essonne | 8,191 | 3.3 | C+ | C− | B− | A+ |
| Boutigny-sur-Essonne | 3,146 | 3.4 | — | C | — | D |
| Saint-Vrain | 3,089 | 4.2 | — | C− | — | A |
| Champcueil | 2,854 | 4.8 | — | C | — | A |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B for safety, #28 of 91 in Essonne.
They grade C+, better than 41% of compared French towns and #20 of 94 in Essonne. The lycée stands out: 99% of 118 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Alexandre Denis in 2025, 2 points above the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Homes cost more than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,704/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so La Ferté-Alais grades C for cost of living.
Commune in Essonne, Île-de-France
La Ferté-Alais is a commune of 3,731 people in the Communauté de communes du Val d'Essonne (CCVE). 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.