Housing is within reach: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Add jobs & income to its strengths (A) — 1.4 jobs per working resident; 4.5% unemployment. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for health and B for walkability. Second homes make up 20% of its housing.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025. Saugues 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 Saugues 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 Saugues.
HousingCost of living A+
Renting in Saugues costs less than in Haute-Loire’s towns and across compared French towns, at an estimated advertised €7.02/m² a month
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Half the homes sold went for more than €1,053/m², below both Haute-Loire’s towns (€1,646/m²) and compared French towns (€2,430/m²). Among the homes sold, 98% were houses. From July 2023 to June 2026, 47 homes were sold in Saugues.
€1,053/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Saugues€1,053/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Haute-Loire median€1,646/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,043/m²
46
€7.02/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€5.54 to €8.90/m² a month)
3.2
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€7.79/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€23,280
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes des Rives du Haut Allier
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
An older town: 35% of people in Saugues are 65 or over, more than in Haute-Loire’s towns and across compared French towns
Children under 15 make up 12%, below Haute-Loire’s towns (16%) and compared French towns (17%) alike. Young adults of 15 to 24 are nearly a tenth of the population. 19% of adults hold a degree.
56.2median age
SauguesHaute-Loire medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
35%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma21%
CAP or BEP29%
Baccalauréat23%
Higher education19%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% 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
Work & commuteJobs & income A
Unemployment in Saugues, 4.5%, runs below Haute-Loire’s towns and compared French towns
Half of residents lived on more than €24,060 a year per consumption unit, below Haute-Loire’s towns (€25,730) and compared French towns (€25,970) alike. 9.3% of Saugues’ working residents had no journey to work at the census.
14%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving77%
On foot12%
Bicycle1%
Public transport0%
Motorbike or scooter0%
1,000
jobs based in Saugues, 1.4 per working resident
4.5%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€24,060
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
9%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
B
Walkability: better than 62% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
History
Saugues is rich in protected monuments: 42 per 10,000 residents, 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.
Nearly a quarter of its homes were built before 1919, above Haute-Loire’s towns (11%) and compared French towns (7.4%) alike. Among the classé monuments in Saugues is Église Saint-Médard, ancienne église collégiale. On the Culture ministry’s list, Saugues counts 7 historic monuments: 3 classé at the top level of protection and 4 inscrit at the second. The oldest protected building goes back to the 10th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HealthHealth B−
Saugues is 17.6 mi from the nearest emergency department
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
At birth, a girl in Haute-Loire can expect 85.7 years and a boy 80 (2025); across France, 85.9 and 80.3. There is one general practitioner in Saugues. Its care home for older people (97 places) counts its residents as Saugues’; allowing for it, deaths were 14% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 308 deaths locally from 2016 to 2025; there were 368, 19% more.
−14%deaths against expected, after care homesB−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw119
Adjusted86
Median town88
Expected100
1
GPs in Saugues · 0 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
17.6 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier du Puy En Velay
17.6 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier du Puy En Velay
85.7 · 80
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Haute-Loire, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Saugues
Is Saugues safe?
Saugues has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 3.1 recorded violent incidents and 3.7 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. With 1,000 jobs for 700 working residents, Saugues draws people from neighboring communes, and crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its number of residents.
Is Saugues expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Saugues grades A+ for cost of living.
About Saugues
Commune in Haute-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Saugues is a commune of 1,652 people in the Communauté de communes des Rives du Haut Allier. 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
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.
