Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It skews young: only 13% of residents are 65 or over. The town, home to 91,053 people, lies in Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France.
Some subjects shine; others lag. Homes are dear: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 13.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. It lags on schools as well (C−): bac results 1.5 points below the expected rate; brevet results 3.2 points below the expected rate. Its strongest is walkability (A+) — 100% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 67% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. The overall grade lands at C, better than 26% of compared French towns. That places it #29 of 33 in Hauts-de-Seine. Its other grades sit near the middle: C+ for safety, B for health and B− for jobs & income.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · 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.
The 3 things Colombes does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Colombes 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 Culture ministry’s list holds 2 historic monuments in Colombes; none is classé, France’s top protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 20th century; the first monument here was protected in 1937.
Wikidata records 9 people born in Colombes before 1900, the earliest Gaston Bouy, in 1866.
Museums, gardens and heritage in and near Colombes. Best known first.
MuseumMusée municipal d'Art et d'Histoire de Colombesin town
AttractionArche de la Défense3.4 km south, in Puteaux
MuseumMusée Roybet-Fould2.9 km southeast, in Courbevoie
MuseumPavillon Vendôme4.5 km southeast, in ClichyGardenGardenSquare Edgar-Quinetin townMuseumMuseumLa Contemporaine3.5 km southwest, in NanterrePhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Colombes.
For its 42,450 residents in work, Colombes has 31,800 jobs: 0.7 each. Half of residents lived on more than €28,370 a year per consumption unit, between Hauts-de-Seine’s towns (€35,370) and compared French towns (€25,970). Also worth knowing: just over a tenth of the labour force are out of work.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
At the median, a home went for €5,346/m², lower than Hauts-de-Seine’s towns (€5,891/m²) yet higher than compared French towns (€2,430/m²). Houses in Colombes sell for €6,973/m² and apartments for €5,000/m². From July 2023 to June 2026, 2,520 homes were sold locally.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €6,973/m² | 783 |
| Apartments | €5,000/m² | 1,737 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Degrees are held by 50% of adults. Children under 15 make up 21%, above both Hauts-de-Seine’s towns (18%) and compared French towns (17%). Aged 15 to 24: 13% of residents.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hauts-de-Seine 52.4%, France 51.8%.
| Colombes | Hauts-de-Seine median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 12% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 30% | 29% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 25% | 26% |
| 65+ | 13% | 16% | 22% |
| No diploma | 17% | 11% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 14% | 10% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 15% | 13% | 18% |
| Higher education | 50% | 63% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Hauts-de-Seine median and France median: the median of compared communes
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The bac pro: 80% of 1,757 candidates passed at the 18 vocational lycées within 5 km. 89.3% of candidates passed the bac at the lycées within 5 km of Colombes, below both Hauts-de-Seine’s towns (93.2%) and compared French towns (92.9%). On results, collèges and lycées here come #35 of 35 in Hauts-de-Seine.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Gay-LussacNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 141 | 72%−9 pts |
| Lycée Jeanne d'Arc PrivateNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 210 | 100%+1 pt |
| Collège Claude MonetBest against expectations: 16 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 115 | 74%+16 pts |
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.
Life expectancy in Hauts-de-Seine: 87.6 years for women and 83.2 for men (2025); France averages 85.9 and 80.3. France’s death rates at each age would predict 5,683 deaths in Colombes from 2016 to 2025; there were 5,413, 5% fewer. There are 37 general practitioners locally.
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 · This figure includes a care-home adjustment that TownRatings models; no official statistic exists.
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The earliest of these monuments dates from the 20th century. Homes from before 1919 make up 5.2% of the total, about level with Hauts-de-Seine’s towns (5.2%) and below compared French towns (7.4%).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Among the graded crimes in Colombes, the most frequent was criminal damage (2025). In all, 1,873 offenses reached the police record in the town in 2025. Each year (2023–2025 average), violence against people came to 7.3 per 1,000 residents and the graded property crimes to 15.4.
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.
The list names few of Colombes’ 2 monuments; beside them, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
92 notable people were born in Colombes.
Eliaquim Mangala: Ludovic Péron, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Élodie Thomis: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Alaeddine Yahia: S. Plaine, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Guillaume Chaine: Bilute13, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Brahim Hemdani: Adrià García from Barcelona, Spain, CC BY-SA 2.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colombes | 91,053 | — | C | D− | C+ | B |
| La Garenne-Colombes | 30,197 | 1 | B | D− | B | A |
| Bois-Colombes | 28,909 | 1.1 | A− | D− | A− | A |
| Courbevoie | 82,902 | 1.6 | B+ | D− | B | A− |
| Bezons Val-d'Oise | 36,434 | 1.7 | D | D | C− | B+ |
| Asnières-sur-Seine | 93,941 | 1.7 | B− | D− | B− | A− |
| Argenteuil Val-d'Oise | 106,130 | 1.9 | D− | D | D | C |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades C+ for safety, #21 of 33 in Hauts-de-Seine. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 250 burglaries and 511 acts of criminal damage.
They grade C−, better than 17% of compared French towns. The lycée stands out: 100% of 210 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Jeanne d'Arc in 2025, a point above the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Colombes grades D− for cost of living.
Commune in Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France
Colombes is a commune of 91,053 people in the Métropole du Grand Paris. 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
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 4, 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.