Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 4,638: a town in Haute-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Recorded crime is low (A+): an average of 3.3 recorded violent incidents and 8 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. At A overall, Bas-en-Basset is better than 91% of compared French towns and ranks #9 of 15 in Haute-Loire. It also does well on cost of living (A−) — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 5.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Most journeys need a car: 40% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 6% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for schools, B− for health and B for jobs & income.
Figures: recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · 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 Bas-en-Basset 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 Bas-en-Basset does most differently from other towns.
On the Culture ministry’s list, Bas-en-Basset counts 3 historic monuments: 1 classé at the top level of protection and 1 inscrit at the second.
The oldest protected part dates from the 14th century; the first monument here was protected in 1930.
On the Culture ministry’s list, Bas-en-Basset counts 3 historic monuments: 1 classé at the top level of protection and 1 inscrit at the second.
Croix du 16e siècle: Photo: Jérôme Marcon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Maison Girard: Photo: Jérôme Marcon · CC BY-SA 3.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bas-en-Basset.
2025 saw 46 offenses recorded in Bas-en-Basset. Among the graded crimes here, the most frequent 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 other physical violence, sexual violence, 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 (11.1% of the index here). That estimated share passes 10%, so treat this Safety Grade with more caution than most. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €8.91/m² a month, near Haute-Loire’s towns (€8.91/m²) and lower than compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Houses are advertised at an estimated €8.77/m² a month. Among the homes sold, 90% were houses.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,025/m² | 138 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Jobs based in Bas-en-Basset number 1,100, against 1,950 residents in work (0.6 per worker). 5.9% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below Haute-Loire’s towns (9.7%) and compared French towns (13.4%) alike. Also worth knowing: at the census, 3.3% of working residents in Bas-en-Basset didn’t travel to work at all.
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.
Ranked by results, schools here are #17 of 19 in Haute-Loire. Near Bas-en-Basset, 84.0% of lycée candidates passed the bac, below Haute-Loire’s towns (95.3%) and compared French towns (92.9%) alike. For the general bac, the closest lycée is 3.1 mi away.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Le MonteilNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 104 | 96%+1 pt |
| Lycée professionnel privé Notre-Dame du Château PrivateNearest lycéeVocational lycée | Vocational lycée | 77 | 84%−6 pts |
| Collège Notre-Dame du Château PrivateBest against expectations: 4 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 186 | 98%+4 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
26% of adults hold a degree, close to Haute-Loire’s towns (27%) and below compared French towns (30%). Children under 15 count for 17% of the people here. The median resident of Bas-en-Basset is 47.5 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Haute-Loire 51.9%, France 51.8%.
| Bas-en-Basset | Haute-Loire median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 25% | 25% | 22% |
| No diploma | 19% | 19% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 30% | 27% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 26% | 27% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Haute-Loire median and France median: the median of compared communes
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The oldest protected building goes back to the 14th century. Among the classé monuments in Bas-en-Basset is Ruines du Château fort de Rochebaron. Most of the list is houses and mansions: 2 of 3.
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.
Women in Haute-Loire live to 85.7 on average and men to 80 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. 542 deaths in Bas-en-Basset between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 511: 6% above. Its care home for older people (86 places) counts its residents as Bas-en-Basset’s; allowing for it, deaths were 10% below expected. The nearest emergency department to Bas-en-Basset is Centre hospitalier de Firminy, 10.3 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 · That adjustment for care homes is a model of TownRatings’ own, not official data.
Heritage and museums in and near Bas-en-Basset. Best known first.
ChâteauChâteau de Rochebaronin town
ChâteauChâteau des Évêques-du-Puy4.3 km east, in Monistrol-sur-LoireMuseumMuseumMusée de la radio et des communications4.2 km east, in Monistrol-sur-LoirePhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Wikidata places 1 person here, but the articles don’t both confirm Bas-en-Basset as the birthplace, so nobody is listed.
Commune in Haute-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Bas-en-Basset is a commune of 4,638 people in the Communauté de communes Marches du Velay-Rochebaron. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bas-en-Basset | 4,638 | — | A | A− | A+ | B− |
| Monistrol-sur-Loire | 8,823 | 2.8 | A− | B+ | B− | C+ |
| Beauzac | 2,954 | 3.1 | — | A | — | C− |
| Saint-Maurice-de-Lignon | 2,688 | 5.6 | — | A− | — | C |
| Aurec-sur-Loire | 6,164 | 6.3 | A | A− | A− | B+ |
| Sainte-Sigolène | 6,097 | 7 | A+ | A | A+ | B− |
| Retournac | 3,007 | 7.5 | A | A | A | B− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades A+ for safety, #4 of 15 in Haute-Loire. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 6 burglaries and 26 acts of criminal damage.
They grade B, better than 62% of compared French towns and #17 of 19 in Haute-Loire. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Bas-en-Basset grades A− 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.
