Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Haute-Corse, Corsica, this town has 3,231 residents.
A town with more to fix than most. L'Île-Rousse’s overall D puts it #11 of 14 in Haute-Corse. That leaves it better than 10% of compared French towns. Its weakest is cost of living: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 13.4 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. It lags on health as well — after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 11% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: 88% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 20% 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 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025).
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 L'Île-Rousse 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 3 things L'Île-Rousse does most differently from other towns.
L'Île-Rousse has 1 historic monument on the Culture ministry’s list: 1 classé, the highest protection, and 0 inscrit, the second level.
The oldest protected part dates from the 19th century; the first monument here was protected in 1993.
Joseph Antoine Aréna, born in 1771, is the one person born in L'Île-Rousse before 1900 that Wikidata records.
L'Île-Rousse has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Marché couvert: Photo: Arbarossa · CC BY-SA 3.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in L'Île-Rousse.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
L'Île-Rousse is the second most expensive of the 16 towns in Haute-Corse, at €4,632/m². The estimated advertised rent is €16.44/m² a month, above both Haute-Corse’s towns (€13.75/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). A house rents for an estimated €9.72/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Apartments | €4,600/m² | 193 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
The unemployment rate here is 12.0%. The median disposable income was €21,260 a year per consumption unit, lower than both Haute-Corse’s towns (€23,160) and compared French towns (€25,970). For its 1,200 residents in work, L'Île-Rousse has 2,200 jobs: 1.9 each.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In Haute-Corse, life expectancy at birth reaches 85.5 years for women and 81.2 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France. 525 deaths in L'Île-Rousse between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 403: 30% above. The nearest emergency department to L'Île-Rousse is Smur de Calvi, 10.4 mi away. 9 GPs practise here.
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 · TownRatings makes the care-home adjustment itself; it is a model, not an official statistic.
The 15-to-24 age group: 9.3%, lower than both Haute-Corse’s towns (10%) and compared French towns (11%). Those 65 and older account for just over a quarter of residents. The middle age in L'Île-Rousse is 47.7.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Haute-Corse 51.9%, France 51.8%.
| L'Île-Rousse | Haute-Corse median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.3% | 10% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 25% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 26% | 21% | 22% |
| No diploma | 31% | 22% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 16% | 20% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 23% | 18% |
| Higher education | 22% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Haute-Corse median and France median: the median of compared communes
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
8.4% of homes were built before 1919. Among the classé monuments in L'Île-Rousse is Marché couvert. The oldest protected building goes back to the 19th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
More of the graded crimes in L'Île-Rousse were criminal damage than anything else (2025). Police and gendarmerie figures for L'Île-Rousse show 73 offenses in 2025. On the Safety Grade, L'Île-Rousse ranks 12th of the 14 compared towns in Haute-Corse. Graded property crimes ran at 12.3 per 1,000 residents a year, and violence against people at 8.4 (2023–2025 average).
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 burglary, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (5.4% of the index here). The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
At the vocational lycée within 5 km, 86% of 28 candidates passed the bac pro. Collège pupils travel 10.5 mi to the nearest one.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lycée polyvalent de BalagneNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 110 | 99%+6 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Museums, other places to visit and gardens in and near L'Île-Rousse. Best known first.
2 notable people were born in L'Île-Rousse.
Commune in Haute-Corse, Corsica
L'Île-Rousse is a commune of 3,231 people in the Communauté de communes de l'Île-Rousse - Balagne. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L'Île-Rousse | 3,231 | — | D | D− | B− | D |
| Calenzana | 2,684 | 9.1 | D | D | A | D |
| Calvi | 5,788 | 10 | D− | D− | C | C |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B− for safety, #12 of 14 in Haute-Corse.
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so L'Île-Rousse 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 9, 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.