Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, home to 5,739 people.
Cost of living is its weak spot: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 14.5 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Overall, Lacanau earns a C−: better than 19% of compared French towns, and #80 of 100 in Gironde. Work and incomes are strong: 0.9 jobs per working resident; 8.9% unemployment. Health is a strength too: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 17% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. It also trails on safety (D−) — an average of 13.9 recorded violent incidents and 28.1 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for schools and B for walkability.
Figures: employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025.
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 Lacanau does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Lacanau 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 no building in Lacanau as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
3.5% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lacanau.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €16.36/m² a month, above both Gironde’s towns (€13.75/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Houses in Lacanau sell for €5,372/m² and apartments for €5,251/m². 716 houses and apartments changed hands here from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €5,372/m² | 442 |
| Apartments | €5,251/m² | 274 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
In all, 209 offenses reached the police record in Lacanau in 2025. The graded crime recorded most here 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 · The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
31% of residents are 65 or over, above both Gironde’s towns (20%) and compared French towns (22%). Under-15s account for 14% of the population. Degrees are held by 43% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Gironde 51.8%, France 51.8%.
| Lacanau | Gironde median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 6.9% | 10% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 31% | 20% | 22% |
| No diploma | 10% | 14% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 21% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 43% | 34% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Gironde median and France median: the median of compared communes
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Its care home for older people (48 places) counts its residents as Lacanau’s; allowing for it, deaths were 17% below expected. 10 GPs practise here. At birth, a girl in Gironde can expect 86.4 years and a boy 81.3 (2025); across France, 85.9 and 80.3. From 2016 to 2025, 566 residents of Lacanau died, against 633 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 11% fewer.
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 · Care-home places are adjusted for by TownRatings, using a model rather than an official statistic.
The census found 16.0% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Unemployment stood at 8.9%, below both Gironde’s towns (9.7%) and compared French towns (10.1%).
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
On results, collèges and lycées here come #52 of 93 in Gironde. For the general bac, the closest lycée is 16.6 mi away. The nearest collège is 2.4 mi away.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège de LacanauNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 137 | 88%−2 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Family days out, museums and other places to visit in and near Lacanau. Best known first.
Nothing in Lacanau is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
One notable person was born in Lacanau.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lacanau | 5,739 | — | C− | D− | D− | B+ |
| Le Porge | 3,465 | 8.7 | C+ | D | B+ | B− |
| Sainte-Hélène | 3,091 | 12 | — | C− | — | A− |
| Hourtin | 4,045 | 14 | B− | D | A− | C |
| Arès | 6,482 | 15 | B | D | B | C+ |
| Castelnau-de-Médoc | 4,907 | 17 | D | C | B+ | D |
| Lège-Cap-Ferret | 7,909 | 17 | C− | D | D− | B |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades D− for safety, #88 of 100 in Gironde. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 22 burglaries and 90 acts of criminal damage.
They grade C+, better than 43% of compared French towns and #52 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 Lacanau grades D− for cost of living.
Commune in Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Lacanau is a commune of 5,739 people in the Communauté de communes Médoc Atlantique. 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 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.