Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,482 in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Arès grades B overall: better than 55% of compared French towns, and #41 of 100 in Gironde. Its weakest subject is cost of living (D): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 11.4 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its strongest is schools (A−): bac results 2 points above the expected rate; brevet results 2.1 points below the expected rate.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 3 things Arès does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Arès 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 Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Arès, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 20th century; the first monument here was protected in 2000.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Louis-Adolphe Eude, born in 1818, is the one person born in Arès before 1900 that Wikidata records.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Arès.
Degrees are held by 28% of adults. 6.4% of residents are 15 to 24, below both Gironde’s towns (10%) and compared French towns (11%). Residents of Arès have a median age of 57.5.
54% women, 46% men
About 84 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Gironde 51.8%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Arès | Gironde median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 11% | 18% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 6.4% | 10% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 38% | 20% | 22% |
| No diploma | 18% | 14% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 28% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 28% | 34% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Gironde median and France median: the median of compared communes
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
A house in Arès goes for €4,770/m², an apartment for €4,568/m². Advertised rents are estimated at €15.21/m² a month, above both Gironde’s towns (€13.75/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). For a house, the estimated advertised rent is €14.70/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €4,770/m² | 270 |
| Apartments | €4,568/m² | 83 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
92.6% of candidates passed the brevet at the collèges within 5 km of Arès, higher than both Gironde’s towns (89.9%) and compared French towns (87.5%). On results, collèges and lycées here come #12 of 93 in Gironde. Collège pupils travel 1.8 mi to the nearest one.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Jean CocteauNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 134 | 91%−1 pt |
| Lycée Nord Bassin Simone VeilNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 251 | 99%+2 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Graded property crimes ran at 12.9 per 1,000 residents a year, and violence against people at 6 (2023–2025 average). For 2025, the figures show 97 offenses in Arès. 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 · When sexual violence and vehicle theft number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (2.2% of the index here). The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
4% of homes were built before 1919. Protection here reaches back to the 20th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
From 2016 to 2025, 1,273 residents of Arès died, against 1,203 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 6% more. In Gironde, women can expect to live 86.4 years and men 81.3 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. The nearest emergency department to Arès is Hopital Prive Wallerstein, 1 mi away.
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 step is TownRatings’ own calculation, not an official number.
Unemployment runs at 11.3%. Arès has 2,100 jobs for 2,250 working residents, 0.9 per worker. At the census, 9.2% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below Gironde’s towns (11.1%) and compared French towns (13.4%) alike.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Museums, other places to visit and heritage in and near Arès. Best known first.
Archaeological siteVestiges gallo-romains d'Andernos-les-Bains3.5 km southeast, in Andernos-les-BainsAttractionAttractionOvniport d'Arèsin townMuseumMuseumVilla Ignota4 km southeast, in Andernos-les-BainsAttractionAttractionLotissement de Lège3.7 km north, in Lège-Cap-FerretArt galleryArt galleryAtelier Galerie Saint-Luc3.8 km southeast, in Andernos-les-BainsPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Arès has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
6 notable people were born in Arès.
Louis-Adolphe Eude: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin, CC BY-SA 3.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arès | 6,482 | — | B | D | B | C+ |
| Andernos-les-Bains | 12,710 | 2.7 | B+ | D | B− | A− |
| Lège-Cap-Ferret | 7,909 | 2.9 | C− | D | D− | B |
| Lanton | 7,337 | 5.6 | A− | D | A | B+ |
| Le Porge | 3,465 | 7.1 | C+ | D | B+ | B− |
| Arcachon | 11,092 | 7.8 | C | D− | D− | A− |
| Audenge | 9,596 | 8.5 | B+ | C− | A− | B |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B for safety, #40 of 100 in Gironde. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 16 burglaries and 40 acts of criminal damage.
They grade A−, better than 81% of compared French towns and #12 of 93 in Gironde. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Arès grades D for cost of living.
Commune in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Arès is a commune of 6,482 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Bassin d'Arcachon Nord. 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.