Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Essonne, Île-de-France, home to 8,161 people.
Housing is expensive: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 7.9 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. La Ville-du-Bois grades C overall and ranks #57 of 91 in Essonne. That leaves it better than just over a third of compared French towns. Safety is weaker too (C−) — an average of 8.2 recorded violent incidents and 21 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 87% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 15% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior).
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 La Ville-du-Bois 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 →
The 2 things La Ville-du-Bois does most differently from other towns.
The Culture ministry lists no building in La Ville-du-Bois as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Église de l'ancienne abbaye, actuellement basilique Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Garde, in Longpont-sur-Orge, 1.8 mi away.
4.2% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Nothing in La Ville-du-Bois is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in La Ville-du-Bois.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Half the homes sold went for more than €3,478/m², above both Essonne’s towns (€3,237/m²) and compared French towns (€2,430/m²). House rents are put at about €16.56/m² a month. From July 2023 to June 2026, 189 homes were sold in La Ville-du-Bois.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €3,604/m² | 162 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 13% of the population. 19% are under 15, near Essonne’s towns (20%) and higher than compared French towns (17%). Graduates make up 38% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Essonne 51.3%, France 51.8%.
| La Ville-du-Bois | Essonne median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 20% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 12% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 14% | 16% | 22% |
| No diploma | 16% | 15% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 22% | 20% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 38% | 39% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Essonne median and France median: the median of compared communes
At the census, 14.6% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, lower than Essonne’s towns (25.8%) yet higher than compared French towns (13.4%). Per consumption unit, the median disposable income is €30,550 a year. Unemployment runs at 7.8%.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
The police record for La Ville-du-Bois lists 209 offenses in 2025. The commonest graded crime in the town was criminal damage (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 and 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, 1.8% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Adjusted for age and care homes, La Ville-du-Bois records 79 deaths per 100 expected, about level with Essonne’s towns (79) and below compared French towns (88). From 2016 to 2025, 458 residents of La Ville-du-Bois died, against 471 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 3% fewer. Also worth knowing: at birth, a girl in Essonne can expect 86.4 years and a boy 82.2 (2025); across France, 85.9 and 80.3. This Essonne town has 2 family doctors.
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 care-home figures behind this are our own model (TownRatings), not official statistics.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Near La Ville-du-Bois, 90.8% of lycée candidates passed the bac, close to Essonne’s towns (91.1%) and below compared French towns (92.9%). By results, schools here place #35 of 94 in Essonne. At the three general lycées, 97% of 557 candidates passed the bac, at the expected rate.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Sacré-Coeur PrivateNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 242 | 100%+2 pts |
| Lycée du Sacré-Coeur PrivateNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 174 | 100%+1 pt |
| Collège Moreau PrivateBest against expectations: 4 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 57 | 86%+4 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Heritage, museums and family days out in and near La Ville-du-Bois. Best known first.
ChâteauChâteau de Montagu3.8 km southwest, in MarcoussisChâteauChâteauChâteau de Ballainvilliers2.3 km northeast, in BallainvilliersChâteauChâteauChâteau du Bois-Courtin3.8 km northwest, in VillejustChâteauChâteauChâteau de Villebon-sur-Yvette4.3 km north, in Villebon-sur-YvetteMuseumMuseumMaison du Patrimoine2.7 km south, in MontlhéryPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in La Ville-du-Bois yet.
Commune in Essonne, Île-de-France
La Ville-du-Bois is a commune of 8,161 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Communauté Paris-Saclay. 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
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 Ville-du-Bois | 8,161 | — | C | D | C− | B+ |
| Nozay | 4,471 | 1.2 | A | D | A− | A+ |
| Ballainvilliers | 4,904 | 1.3 | B− | D | C− | A+ |
| Montlhéry | 9,772 | 1.4 | C+ | D | C | B− |
| Longpont-sur-Orge | 6,482 | 1.4 | C | D | C | A− |
| Villiers-sur-Orge | 4,545 | 1.5 | B− | D | C+ | A+ |
| Saulx-les-Chartreux | 6,733 | 1.9 | C+ | D | C+ | A− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades C− for safety, #74 of 91 in Essonne. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 17 burglaries and 66 acts of criminal damage.
They grade C, better than 30% of compared French towns and #35 of 94 in Essonne. The lycée stands out: 100% of 174 candidates passed the bac at Lycée du Sacré-Coeur in 2025, a point above the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so La Ville-du-Bois grades D for cost of living.
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 4, 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.