Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 6,924 in Hérault, Occitanie.
Jacou grades A− overall: better than 79% of compared French towns, and #8 of 84 in Hérault. Its weakest subject is cost of living (D−): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 11.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its strongest is walkability (A): 100% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 21% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 2 things Jacou does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Jacou 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 lists 1 historic monument in Jacou: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 0 inscrit (the second level).
The oldest protected part dates from the 17th century; the first monument here was protected in 2000.
1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Other places to visit, heritage and museums in and near Jacou. Best known first.
ZooParc zoologique de Montpellier3.5 km southwest, in MontpellierChâteauChâteauChâteau d'Assas4.7 km north, in AssasChâteauChâteauChâteau Levat4.7 km southwest, in MontpellierChâteauChâteauChâteau de Verchant4.4 km south, in Castelnau-le-LezChâteauChâteauChâteau de Montferrier-sur-Lez4.3 km west, in Montferrier-sur-LezPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Jacou.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €16.23/m² a month, above both Hérault’s towns (€13.36/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). A house in Jacou goes for €4,115/m², an apartment for €3,858/m². Houses were 57% of what sold.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €4,115/m² | 104 |
| Apartments | €3,858/m² | 79 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
At the census, 20.5% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train. Unemployment stood at 8.2%, lower than both Hérault’s towns (11.8%) and compared French towns (10.1%). Jobs located in Jacou: 2,350, for 3,100 residents in work (0.8 each).
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
At the lycées within 5 km of Jacou, 96.1% passed the bac, close to Hérault’s towns (95.0%) and above compared French towns (92.9%). School results put the town #11 of 80 in Hérault.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Pierre Mendès FranceNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 201 | 93%−2 pts |
| Lycée polyvalent Georges PompidouNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 431 | 98%±0 pts |
| Section d'enseignement général et technologique du Lycée agricole Frédéric Bazille - AgropolisBest against expectations: 36 points above the expected rateGeneral lycée | General lycée | 153 | 99%+36 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
The police record for Jacou lists 107 offenses in 2025. On average over 2023–2025, every 1,000 residents saw 4.5 violent offenses and 11.7 graded property crimes a year. The commonest graded crime locally was criminal damage (2025).
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 · Small counts of armed robbery and theft from vehicles go unpublished (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the département’s average stands in, 2.0% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Jacou is Domaine du château de Bocaud. Protection here reaches back to the 17th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
From 2016 to 2025, 540 residents of Jacou died, against 558 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 3% fewer. Its two care homes for older people (63 places) count their residents as Jacou’s; allowing for them, deaths were 13% below expected. Also worth knowing: for a family doctor, residents of Jacou can choose among 21 GPs. Life expectancy in Hérault: 86.3 years for women and 80.6 for men (2025); France averages 85.9 and 80.3.
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 · Note: TownRatings models the care-home adjustment; it is not an official figure.
Half the people of Jacou are older than 44.9. Those 65 and older account for just over a fifth of residents. 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
| Jacou | Hérault median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 9.7% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 22% | 24% | 22% |
| No diploma | 11% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 17% | 23% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 51% | 31% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Hérault median and France median: the median of compared communes
Jacou has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Domaine du château de Bocaud: Photo: Amélie Nespoulous · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Jacou yet.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacou | 6,924 | — | A− | D− | A− | B− |
| Le Crès | 9,226 | 1.3 | B | D− | B | B+ |
| Clapiers | 6,006 | 1.4 | A | D− | A | A |
| Teyran | 4,787 | 1.5 | A | C− | A+ | A |
| Castelnau-le-Lez | 26,058 | 1.7 | B+ | D− | C+ | A |
| Saint-Aunès | 4,530 | 2.8 | B+ | D | B− | A− |
| Vendargues | 7,262 | 2.9 | C+ | D− | C+ | C+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades A− for safety, #13 of 84 in Hérault. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 21 burglaries and 36 acts of criminal damage.
They grade A−, better than 82% of compared French towns and #11 of 80 in Hérault. 98% of 431 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Georges Pompidou in 2025, at 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 Jacou grades D− for cost of living.
Commune in Hérault, Occitanie
Jacou is a commune of 6,924 people in the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. 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 October 30, 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.