Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 24,824 in French Guiana.
Kourou has no overall grade because cost of living and walkability aren’t graded here. Its weakest subject is health (D−): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 41% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Its strongest is schools (B): bac results at the expected rate; brevet results 16.9 points above the expected rate.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The one thing Kourou does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Kourou 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.
Kourou has no overall grade because cost of living and walkability aren’t graded here.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Kourou has 1 historic monument on the Culture ministry’s list: 1 classé, the highest protection, and 0 inscrit, the second level.
0.6% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Kourou.
6.4% of residents are 65 or over, lower than compared French towns (22%). Under-15s account for 29% of the population. Degrees are held by just over a quarter of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: France 51.8%.
| Kourou | France median | |
|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 29% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 17% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 22% | 26% |
| 65+ | 6.4% | 22% |
| No diploma | 35% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 18% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 17% | 18% |
| Higher education | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · France median: the median of compared communes (French Guiana has none of its own)
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Kourou has 10 family doctors. Women in French Guiana live to 82.2 on average and men to 77.1 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. 917 deaths locally between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 631: 45% above.
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.
Violence against people averaged 22.4 per 1,000 residents a year over 2023–2025; graded property crimes averaged 22.3. Kourou comes 12th of the 13 compared towns in French Guiana on the Safety Grade. Over 2025, Kourou logged 1,092 recorded offenses. The commonest graded crime in the town was other physical violence (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.
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The pre-1919 share of homes is 0.6%. Among the classé monuments in Kourou is Roches gravées de la Carapa.
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.
Vocational results within 5 km: 68% passed the bac pro, of 193 candidates. Near Kourou, 80.5% of collège pupils passed the brevet, below compared French towns (87.5%). The town’s schools place #3 of 7 in French Guiana on results.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Victor Schoelcher (Kourou II)Nearest collègeCollège | Collège | 129 | 79%+18 pts |
| Lycée polyvalent Élie CastorNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 28 | 93% |
| Collège Henri Agarande (Kourou I)Best against expectations: 18 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 146 | 76%+18 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
21.3% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, above compared French towns (13.4%). Kourou holds 9,000 jobs; 8,300 of its residents are in work, so 1.1 jobs each.
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.
308 sales of houses and apartments in Kourou, from July 2023 to June 2026, give the median of €2,229/m². Houses sell for €2,366/m² in the town, apartments for €2,002/m². Among the homes sold, 78% were houses.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,366/m² | 241 |
| Apartments | €2,002/m² | 67 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Museums, family days out and other places to visit in and near Kourou. Best known first.
Kourou has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Roches gravées de la Carapa: Photo: Psu973 · CC BY-SA 3.0
12 notable people were born in Kourou.
Odsonne Édouard: Gaillac, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alexie Alaïs: alainalele1, CC BY 2.0 · Davy Rimane: TrisHR, CC BY 4.0
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
It grades D− for safety. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 148 burglaries and 140 acts of criminal damage.
They grade B, better than 60% of compared French towns and #3 of 7 in French Guiana. 93% of 28 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Élie Castor in 2025 given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Commune in French Guiana
Kourou is a commune of 24,824 people in the Communauté de communes des Savanes. 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.