Buying a home costs less than in most towns (A+): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its weakest subject is health (D) — after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 6% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for jobs & income and B− for walkability. 21% of homes here are second homes.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025. Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
Each subject compares Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon 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.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon.
HousingCost of living A+
Renting in Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon costs less than in Haute-Loire’s towns and across compared French towns, at an estimated advertised €7.48/m² a month
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The middle sale price: €1,223/m², below Haute-Loire’s towns (€1,646/m²) and compared French towns (€2,430/m²) alike. The sales split: 94% houses, the rest apartments. The market in Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon: 36 sales of houses and apartments between July 2023 and June 2026.
€1,223/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon€1,223/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Haute-Loire median€1,646/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,223/m²
34
€7.48/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€5.46 to €10.25/m² a month)
3.2
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€8.00/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€26,390
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes Marches du Velay-Rochebaron
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon skews older, with 37% of residents 65 or over, more than in Haute-Loire’s towns and across compared French towns
Children under 15 make up 12% of residents. 7.1% of residents are 15 to 24, lower than both Haute-Loire’s towns (11%) and compared French towns (11%). Graduates make up just over a fifth of adults.
56.3median age
Saint-Pal-de-ChalenconHaute-Loire medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
37%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma22%
CAP or BEP30%
Baccalauréat21%
Higher education21%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About an even split. Median share of women: Haute-Loire 51.9%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Haute-Loire median and France median: the median of compared communes
HealthHealth D
Deaths in Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon run above what its ages would predict: 106 per 100 expected, more than in Haute-Loire’s towns and across compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
The nearest emergency department to Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon is Centre hospitalier de Firminy, 16.2 mi away. From 2016 to 2025, 248 residents of Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon died, against 167 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 48% more. Women in Haute-Loire live to 85.7 on average and men to 80 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. One GP practises in the town.
+6%deaths against expected, after care homesDHealth Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw148
Adjusted106
Median town88
Expected100
1
GPs in Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon · 3.9 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
16.2 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier de Firminy
16.2 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier de Firminy
85.7 · 80
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Haute-Loire, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Old homes shape Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon: 32% were built before 1919, more than in Haute-Loire’s towns and across compared French towns
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Its oldest listed monument dates from the 11th century. Among the classé monuments in Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon is Croix de chemin du hameau de Cossanges. Per 10,000 residents, Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon counts 67 protected monuments, above Haute-Loire’s towns (6.5) and compared French towns (2.5) alike. This Haute-Loire town has 7 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 1 classé, the highest protection, and 6 inscrit, the second level.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Work & commuteJobs & income B−
Incomes in Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon are lower than in 73% of French communes of 1,000+
Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon holds 450 jobs; 400 of its residents are in work, so 1.1 jobs each. Median disposable income is €24,560 a year for each consumption unit. Nearly a tenth of the labour force were unemployed, below Haute-Loire’s towns (10.1%) and compared French towns (10.1%) alike.
12%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving81%
On foot9%
Public transport2%
Motorbike or scooter0%
Bicycle0%
450
jobs based in Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon, 1.1 per working resident
9.4%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€24,560
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
7%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
B−
Walkability: better than 49% of compared French towns
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon
Is Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon safe?
Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 4.9 recorded violent incidents and 5 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Is Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon grades A+ for cost of living.
About Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon
Commune in Haute-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Saint-Pal-de-Chalencon is a commune of 1,038 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
Population
1,038 (INSEE, census 2023)
Intercommunality
Communauté de communes Marches du Velay-Rochebaron
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.
