A town of contrasts. Crime runs high: an average of 13.2 recorded violent incidents and 20.7 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Its best grade is for walkability (A): 99% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 20% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. At the median price of €1,481/m², a 70 m² home costs 4.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the Communauté d'agglomération Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées. Overall, that makes a C+, better than 38% of compared French towns. In the ranking it comes #10 of 12 in Hautes-Pyrénées. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for schools and B− for health.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, INSEE census 2023 · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · 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 Tarbes 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.
Jardin Massey: Photo: Chris06 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Maison natale du maréchal Foch, actuellement Musée Foch: Photo: Olivier2000 · Public domain · Église Sainte-Thérèse ou des Carmes: Photo: Florent Pécassou · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Préfecture des Hautes-Pyrénées: Photo: Guiguilacagouille · CC BY-SA 3.0
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Tarbes.
Work & commuteJobs & income C−
Tarbes has higher unemployment than Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns or compared French towns: 18.1%
20%walk, cycle or take transit
20.2% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, above both Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns (10.9%) and compared French towns (13.4%). Tarbes has 28,200 jobs for 15,250 working residents, 1.8 per worker. Median disposable income comes to €21,050 a year per consumption unit.
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving73%
On foot11%
Bicycle5%
Public transport4%
Motorbike or scooter1%
28,200
jobs based in Tarbes, 1.8 per working resident
18.1%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€21,050
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
5%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A
Walkability: better than 94% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Tarbes sees more crime per resident than 89% of compared French towns
13.2recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
Tarbes comes 11th of the 12 compared towns in Hautes-Pyrénées on the Safety Grade. In 2025, 1,558 offenses were recorded here. Of the graded crimes here, criminal damage came up most often (2025).
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage573
Other physical violence250
Family violence230
Theft from vehicles175
Burglary145
Sexual violence109
Vehicle theft69
Armed robbery7
Theft without violence611
Fraud315
Drug use275
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.
13.2
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
20.7
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
1,558
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
under 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 · The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
HousingCost of living B+
Tarbes is graded a B+ for cost of living
€1,481/m²median sale price
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
2,239 sales of houses and apartments in Tarbes, from July 2023 to June 2026, give the median of €1,481/m². Houses in Tarbes sell for €1,670/m² and apartments for €1,424/m². Advertised rents are estimated at €10.31/m² a month, about level with Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns (€10.24/m²) and below compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Tarbes€1,481/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Hautes-Pyrénées median€1,744/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,670/m²
580
Apartments
€1,424/m²
1,659
€10.31/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€8.30 to €12.80/m² a month)
4.3
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€9.90/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,150
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté d'agglomération Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Schools
88.7% of candidates passed the brevet at the nine collèges within 5 km, 1.5 points below the expected rate
96%passed the bac (general and technological)B−School Grade
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The town’s schools place #10 of 14 in Hautes-Pyrénées on results. Near Tarbes, 93.2% of lycée candidates passed the bac, close to both Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns (93.2%) and compared French towns (92.9%).
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Tarbes skews young, with 19% of residents aged 15 to 24, more than in Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns and across compared French towns
39.9median age
Children under 15 count for 13% of the people here. 23% of residents are 65 or over, lower than Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns (29%) and near compared French towns (22%). The middle age in Tarbes is 39.9.
TarbesHautes-Pyrénées medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
19%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma23%
CAP or BEP26%
Baccalauréat19%
Higher education27%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hautes-Pyrénées 53.4%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Hautes-Pyrénées median and France median: the median of compared communes
History
12 historic monuments, 3 classé
12historic monuments
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Tarbes is Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède. Its heritage reaches back to the 1st century. Homes from before 1919 make up 4.1% of the total, lower than both Hautes-Pyrénées’ towns (5.5%) and compared French towns (7.4%).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HealthHealth B−
More deaths than expected: Tarbes is above 52% of compared French towns once ages and care homes are allowed for
−11%deaths against expected, after care homesB−Health Grade
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Life expectancy at birth in Hautes-Pyrénées is 85.3 years for women and 80.5 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. France’s death rates at each age would predict 5,526 deaths in Tarbes from 2016 to 2025; there were 5,436, 2% fewer. Its six care homes for older people (627 places) count their residents as Tarbes’; allowing for them, deaths were 11% below expected. For a family doctor, residents of Tarbes can choose among 34 GPs.
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw98
Adjusted89
Median town88
Expected100
34
GPs in Tarbes · 3.9 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
1.1 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Ch Tarbes Lourdes Gespe site Tarbes
0.4 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Ch Tarbes Lourdes Gespe site Tarbes
85.3 · 80.5
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Hautes-Pyrénées, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Théophile Gautier: Nadar, Public domain · Ferdinand Foch: R. Melcy, Public domain · Bertrand Barère: Jean-Louis Laneuville, Public domain · Céline Dumerc: Pierre-Selim Huard, CC BY 3.0 · François Deguelt: Inconnu, Public domain · Sandra Forgues: SandraForgues, CC BY-SA 4.0
About Tarbes
Commune in Hautes-Pyrénées, Occitanie
Tarbes is a commune of 44,399 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 Tarbes
Is Tarbes safe?
It grades D for safety. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 145 burglaries and 573 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Tarbes good?
They grade B−, better than 46% of compared French towns and #10 of 14 in Hautes-Pyrénées. 90% of 72 candidates passed the bac at Lycée technologique privé Pradeau-La Sède Saint-Pierre in 2025, 4 points below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Tarbes expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,481/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Tarbes 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.
