Strong in places, weak in others. Its lowest grade is for safety: an average of 11.4 recorded violent incidents and 22.2 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Lourdes’s overall grade, C, puts it better than 30% of compared French towns. Work and incomes lag (C−): 1.8 jobs per working resident; 20.4% unemployment. Buying 70 m² at the median €1,326/m² takes 3.8 years of the median income per consumption unit in the Communauté d'agglomération Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées. Fewer journeys need a car: 85% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 19% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi.
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 Lourdes 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.
Tour de Garnavie: Photo: LeZibou · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ancien four a chaux: Photo: Racinaire · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Domaine du sanctuaire de Lourdes: Photo: Père Igor · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Château fort: Photo: K.Weise · Public domain
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lourdes.
Safety
Crime per resident in Lourdes runs higher than in 88% of compared French towns
11.4recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
On the Safety Grade, Lourdes ranks 10th of the 12 compared towns in Hautes-Pyrénées. 2025 saw 473 offenses recorded in the town. Jobs outnumber working residents in Lourdes (7,850 to 4,450): it draws people in from around. The graded crime recorded most in the town was criminal damage (2025).
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage199
Other physical violence83
Family violence67
Theft from vehicles49
Burglary36
Sexual violence33
Vehicle theft6
Theft without violence290
Drug use181
Fraud67
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.
11.4
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
22.2
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
473
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
0.1%
of the index rests on the département’s average, used where small counts aren’t published
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · For armed robbery, this figure isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the index uses the département’s average instead, 0.1% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses. Crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its residents, so a town that draws people in from around can look higher.
Work & commuteJobs & income C−
Lourdes has higher unemployment than Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns or compared French towns: 20.4%
19%walk, cycle or take transit
At the census, 19.3% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, above both Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns (10.9%) and compared French towns (13.4%). Median disposable income comes to €21,300 a year per consumption unit.
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving71%
On foot15%
Public transport3%
Bicycle2%
Motorbike or scooter2%
7,850
jobs based in Lourdes, 1.8 per working resident
20.4%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€21,300
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
8%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A
Walkability: better than 87% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Fewer children live in Lourdes than in Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns or compared French towns: 10% are under 15
55.1median age
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 8% of residents, lower than both Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns (9.6%) and compared French towns (11%). People 65 and over make up just over a third of the town. Degrees are held by 22% of adults.
LourdesHautes-Pyrénées medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
34%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma25%
CAP or BEP29%
Baccalauréat16%
Higher education22%
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 83 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hautes-Pyrénées 53.4%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
INSEE, census 2023 · Hautes-Pyrénées median and France median: the median of compared communes
HealthHealth C−
Lourdes’ death rate, adjusted for age and care homes, is higher than in 81% of compared French towns
+1%deaths against expected, after care homesC−Health Grade
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
18 GPs practise in Lourdes. Ages and care homes taken into account, deaths in Lourdes come to 101 per 100 predicted. France’s death rates at each age would predict 2,150 deaths locally from 2016 to 2025; there were 2,505, 17% more. At birth, a girl in Hautes-Pyrénées can expect 85.3 years and a boy 80.5 (2025); across France, 85.9 and 80.3.
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw117
Adjusted101
Median town88
Expected100
18
GPs in Lourdes · 4.8 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
0.2 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier Tarbes Lourdes site Lourdes
10.7 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Polyclinique de L Ormeau site centre
85.3 · 80.5
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Hautes-Pyrénées, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Buying in Lourdes costs less than in both Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns and compared French towns: the median sale is €1,326/m²
€1,326/m²median sale price
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
In Lourdes, houses go for €1,500/m² and apartments for €1,263/m². Advertised rents are estimated at €10.93/m² a month, higher than Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns (€10.24/m²) yet lower than compared French towns (€12.41/m²). A house rents for an estimated €8.65/m² a month.
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Lourdes€1,326/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Hautes-Pyrénées median€1,744/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,500/m²
232
Apartments
€1,263/m²
613
€10.93/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€8.87 to €13.48/m² a month)
3.8
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€8.65/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,150
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté d'agglomération Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
History
4 historic monuments in Lourdes, 1 classé
4historic monuments
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The oldest protected building goes back to the 11th century. Among the classé monuments in Lourdes is Château fort. Homes from before 1919 make up 5.9% of the total, higher than Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns (5.5%) yet lower than compared French towns (7.4%).
Bernadette Soubirous: abbé P. Bernadou, Public domain · Philippe Douste-Blazy: Jackolan1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · François Borde: Félix Potin Corp., Public domain · Jean-François Jarrige: Philippe FABRY, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jean Prat: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain · Jean-Jacques Boussemart: Ladyblossom, Public domain
About Lourdes
Commune in Hautes-Pyrénées, Occitanie
Lourdes is a commune of 13,266 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées. 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
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Lourdes
Is Lourdes safe?
It grades D for safety, #10 of 12 in Hautes-Pyrénées. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 36 burglaries and 199 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Lourdes good?
They grade B, better than 61% of compared French towns and #3 of 14 in Hautes-Pyrénées. 97% of 77 candidates passed the bac at Lycée général privé Peyramale Saint-Joseph in 2025, a point below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Lourdes expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Lourdes grades B+ for cost of living.
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.
