Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 17,772 residents and lies in Haute-Garonne, Occitanie.
Health is its strong suit: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 32% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. At B+ overall, Balma ranks #33 of 85 in Haute-Garonne. On that grade it does better than 71% of compared French towns. Homes are dear: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 9.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Safety is weaker too (C−): an average of 6.2 recorded violent incidents and 24.7 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Figures: 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).
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 Balma 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 Balma does most differently from other towns.
Balma has 1 historic monument on the Culture ministry’s list, none at the highest level (classé).
The oldest protected part dates from the 16th century; the first monument here was protected in 1984.
1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Balma has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Château de Thégra: Photo: Émeric · CC BY-SA 4.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Balma.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
For a family doctor, residents of Balma can choose among 23 GPs. In Haute-Garonne, life expectancy at birth reaches 86.4 years for women and 82.1 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France. 1,206 deaths here between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 1,692: 29% below.
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 · Note: TownRatings models the care-home adjustment; it is not an official figure.
The median disposable income was €31,580 a year per consumption unit, higher than both Haute-Garonne’s towns (€27,620) and compared French towns (€25,970). Jobs based in Balma number 15,100, against 7,900 residents in work (1.9 per worker). Bus, tram or train carried 16.6% of working residents in Balma to work at the census.
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.
Balma is the second most expensive of the 96 towns in Haute-Garonne, at €3,448/m². A house in Balma goes for €3,979/m², an apartment for €3,278/m². Advertised rents are estimated at €13.54/m² a month, above both Haute-Garonne’s towns (€12.27/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €3,979/m² | 250 |
| Apartments | €3,278/m² | 394 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
More of the graded crimes in Balma were burglary than anything else (2025). In all, 536 offenses reached the police record in the town in 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 · Small counts of armed robbery go unpublished (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the département’s average stands in, 0.1% 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.
For exam results, it comes #8 of 91 in Haute-Garonne. At the nine general lycées, 98% of 2,755 candidates passed the bac, at the expected rate.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Jean RostandNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 145 | 93%±0 pts |
| Lycée général et technologique Stéphane HesselNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 464 | 92%−4 pts |
| Collège Sainte-Marie des Ursulines PrivateBest against expectations: 6 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 71 | 100%+6 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Balma has 1 historic monument on the Culture ministry’s list, none at the highest level (classé). 1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 14% of residents, higher than both Haute-Garonne’s towns (10%) and compared French towns (11%). Under 15: 17% of residents. Retirement age and beyond: just over a fifth of residents are 65 or older.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Haute-Garonne 51.3%, France 51.8%.
| Balma | Haute-Garonne median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 14% | 10% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 25% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 21% | 18% | 22% |
| No diploma | 10% | 13% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 13% | 22% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 56% | 40% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Haute-Garonne median and France median: the median of compared communes
Other places to visit, museums and heritage in and near Balma. Best known first.
ChâteauChâteau de Thégrain town
ChurchBasilique Saint-Sernin de Toulouse4.8 km west, in Toulouse
AttractionCapitole de Toulouse4.7 km west, in Toulouse
AttractionCathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toulouse4.3 km west, in Toulouse
MuseumMuséum de Toulouse4.6 km southwest, in Toulouse
Art galleryMusée des Augustins de Toulouse4.6 km west, in ToulousePhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Balma yet.
Commune in Haute-Garonne, Occitanie
Balma is a commune of 17,772 people in the Toulouse Métropole. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balma | 17,772 | — | B+ | D | C− | A |
| Quint-Fonsegrives | 6,133 | 2.4 | A | D | B− | A |
| Montrabé | 4,473 | 2.6 | A | C− | A | A |
| Toulouse | 514,819 | 3.2 | C | D | D | B+ |
| L'Union | 12,638 | 3.3 | B− | D | C− | A |
| Saint-Jean | 11,261 | 3.6 | B+ | C− | B+ | B |
| Saint-Orens-de-Gameville | 14,646 | 4.2 | B+ | C− | B− | B+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades C− for safety, #73 of 85 in Haute-Garonne. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 149 burglaries and 111 acts of criminal damage.
They grade B+, better than 73% of compared French towns and #8 of 91 in Haute-Garonne. 92% of 464 candidates passed the bac at Lycée général et technologique Stéphane Hessel in 2025, 4 points below 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 Balma 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.