Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
8,823 people call this town in Haute-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes home.
The local economy does well: 1.1 jobs per working resident; 6.4% unemployment. At the median price of €2,084/m², a 70 m² home costs 5.5 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the Communauté de communes Marches du Velay-Rochebaron. Health lags: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 7% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. All told, that adds up to an A− overall and a rank of #12 of 15 in Haute-Loire. It comes out better than 84% of compared French towns. Its other grades sit near the middle: B− for safety 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) · 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.
Each subject compares Monistrol-sur-Loire 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 one thing Monistrol-sur-Loire does most differently from other towns.
Monistrol-sur-Loire has 3 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list, none at the highest level (classé).
The oldest protected part dates from the 12th century; the first monument here was protected in 1926.
Monistrol-sur-Loire has 3 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list, none at the highest level (classé).
Château de Martinas: Photo: Pat343434 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Église Saint-Marcellin: Photo: Jérôme Marcon · CC BY-SA 3.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Monistrol-sur-Loire.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Houses sell for €2,195/m² in Monistrol-sur-Loire, apartments for €1,933/m². 228 sales of houses and apartments here, from July 2023 to June 2026, give the median of €2,084/m². Only one of the 24 towns in Haute-Loire costs more to buy into than Monistrol-sur-Loire, whose median sale is €2,084/m².
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,195/m² | 163 |
| Apartments | €1,933/m² | 65 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
At the lycées within 5 km of Monistrol-sur-Loire, 95.3% passed the bac, near Haute-Loire’s towns (95.3%) and higher than compared French towns (92.9%). By results, schools here place #14 of 19 in Haute-Loire.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Notre-Dame du Château PrivateNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 186 | 98%+4 pts |
| Lycée général et technologique Léonard de VinciNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 299 | 96%−2 pts |
| Collège Le MonteilBest against expectations: a point above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 104 | 96%+1 pt |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
For a family doctor, residents of Monistrol-sur-Loire can choose among 10 GPs. The nearest emergency department to Monistrol-sur-Loire is Centre hospitalier de Firminy, 8.8 mi away. From 2016 to 2025, 768 residents of Monistrol-sur-Loire died, against 734 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 5% more. In Haute-Loire, life expectancy at birth reaches 85.7 years for women and 80 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France.
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 · Allowing for care homes is a TownRatings estimate, not a published statistic.
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Protection here reaches back to the 12th century. Most of the list is houses and mansions: 2 of 3. Before 1919: that is when 8% of homes were built.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
The median disposable income was €27,310 a year per consumption unit, above both Haute-Loire’s towns (€25,730) and compared French towns (€25,970). At the census, 2.3% of working residents in Monistrol-sur-Loire didn’t travel to work at all. Walking, cycling and public transport carried 8.5% of commuters at the census.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Criminal damage topped the graded crimes in Monistrol-sur-Loire (2025). Police and gendarmerie figures for Monistrol-sur-Loire show 191 offenses in 2025. Violence against people ran at 8.1 per 1,000 residents a year and the graded property crimes at 12.9 (2023–2025 average). On the Safety Grade, Monistrol-sur-Loire ranks 13th of the 15 compared towns in Haute-Loire.
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.
People 65 and over make up 22% of the town, about level with compared French towns (22%) and below Haute-Loire’s towns (25%). 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Ages in Monistrol-sur-Loire split evenly at 45.5: half are older, half younger.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Haute-Loire 51.9%, France 51.8%.
| Monistrol-sur-Loire | Haute-Loire median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 22% | 25% | 22% |
| No diploma | 16% | 19% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 33% | 27% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Haute-Loire median and France median: the median of compared communes
Heritage, museums and other places to visit in and near Monistrol-sur-Loire. Best known first.
ChâteauChâteau des Évêques-du-Puyin townChâteauChâteauChâteau de Martinasin townMuseumMuseumMusée de la radio et des communicationsin townAttractionAttractionPont de Confolent4.3 km southwest, in BeauzacPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
One notable person was born in Monistrol-sur-Loire.
Yvan Bourgis: Poutre2brest, CC BY-SA 3.0
Commune in Haute-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Monistrol-sur-Loire is a commune of 8,823 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monistrol-sur-Loire | 8,823 | — | A− | B+ | B− | C+ |
| Bas-en-Basset | 4,638 | 2.8 | A | A− | A+ | B− |
| Beauzac | 2,954 | 4 | — | A | — | C− |
| Sainte-Sigolène | 6,097 | 4.5 | A+ | A | A+ | B− |
| Saint-Maurice-de-Lignon | 2,688 | 5 | — | A− | — | C |
| Saint-Didier-en-Velay | 3,523 | 5.2 | A+ | A | A+ | B |
| Aurec-sur-Loire | 6,164 | 5.6 | A | A− | A− | B+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B− for safety, #13 of 15 in Haute-Loire. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 46 burglaries and 56 acts of criminal damage.
They grade B+, better than 71% of compared French towns and #14 of 19 in Haute-Loire. 96% of 299 candidates passed the bac at Lycée général et technologique Léonard de Vinci in 2025, 2 points below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,084/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Monistrol-sur-Loire grades B+ 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.
