Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,815 in Hérault, Occitanie.
Laurens has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is jobs & income (D): 0.5 jobs per working resident; 12.6% unemployment. At the median price of €2,306/m², a 70 m² home costs 6.7 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté de communes Les Avant-Monts. Its strongest is walkability (B+): 93% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 8% 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 one thing Laurens does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Laurens 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 Laurens, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 19th century; the first monument here was protected in 1993.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Laurens.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
After the care-home adjustment, Laurens’ deaths ran at 103 per 100 expected, above both Hérault’s towns (89) and compared French towns (88). From 2016 to 2025, 224 residents of Laurens died, against 178 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 26% more. The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic.
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
That puts Laurens below both Hérault’s towns (€25,355) and compared French towns (€25,970). Unemployment stands at 12.6%.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
On this, Laurens is below both Hérault’s towns (9.7%) and compared French towns (11%). Those 65 and older account for 26% of residents.
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
| Laurens | Hérault median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 8.4% | 9.7% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 26% | 24% | 22% |
| No diploma | 21% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 30% | 23% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 26% | 31% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Hérault median and France median: the median of compared communes
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Laurens, none of them classé, France’s highest protection. 12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
In the comparison, Laurens comes below both Hérault’s towns (€13.36/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). The median price, €2,306/m², comes from 97 sales of houses and apartments in Laurens from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,315/m² | 94 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Police and gendarmerie recorded 34 offenses in the graded categories in Laurens in 2025. For family violence, other physical violence, sexual violence, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, 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, 56.8% of the index here.
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
Heritage and other places to visit in and near Laurens. Best known first.
Laurens has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Château de Grézan: Photo: Fagairolles 34 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Laurens 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurens | 1,815 | — | — | C+ | — | C− |
| Magalas | 3,582 | 3.7 | C | C | B | B− |
| Murviel-lès-Béziers | 3,000 | 6.3 | B+ | C+ | B+ | C+ |
| Bédarieux | 5,804 | 6.7 | C+ | A− | D | D |
| Thézan-lès-Béziers | 3,124 | 7.4 | A− | C+ | A | B |
| Caux | 2,718 | 8.4 | C | C | A− | C− |
| Servian | 5,517 | 8.6 | D | C− | C+ | C− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Laurens has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 3.9 recorded violent incidents and 10.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 15 burglaries and 19 acts of criminal damage.
Prices are close to the median of compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,306/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so Laurens grades C+ for cost of living.
Commune in Hérault, Occitanie
Laurens is a commune of 1,815 people in the Communauté de communes Les Avant-Monts. 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.