Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 5,608 residents and lies in Hérault, Occitanie.
A town of contrasts. At C− overall, Sauvian is better than 22% of compared French towns and ranks #56 of 84 in Hérault. Buying in is costly: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 9.7 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. It also trails on jobs & income: 0.5 jobs per working resident; 12.6% unemployment. Its best grade is for safety (A−): an average of 5.4 recorded violent incidents and 10.4 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for schools and B− for walkability.
Figures: recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · amenities, INSEE BPE 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 one thing Sauvian does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Sauvian 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 no building in Sauvian as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Église Notre-Dame de Grâce, in Sérignan, 1.6 mi away.
2.7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Sauvian.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Sales in Sauvian from July 2023 to June 2026: 192 houses and apartments. Among the homes sold, 92% were houses. For a house, the estimated advertised rent is €11.66/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,962/m² | 176 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
The 2025 count: 101 offenses in Sauvian. 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 · When armed robbery and vehicle theft number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (4.9% of the index here). The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Under 15: 16% of residents. The 15-to-24 age group: 9.1%, lower than both Hérault’s towns (9.7%) and compared French towns (11%). Among adults, 27% have a degree.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Sauvian | Hérault median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.1% | 9.7% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 30% | 24% | 22% |
| No diploma | 17% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 29% | 23% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 27% | 31% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Hérault median and France median: the median of compared communes
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
From 2016 to 2025, 667 residents of Sauvian died, against 624 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 7% more. Life expectancy at birth in Hérault is 86.3 years for women and 80.6 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. One GP practises 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 · Care-home places are adjusted for by TownRatings, using a model rather than an official statistic.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The town’s schools place #51 of 80 in Hérault on results. Collège pupils travel 1.3 mi to the nearest one.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Marcel PagnolNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 217 | 76%−11 pts |
| Lycée polyvalent Marc BlochNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 370 | 96%+2 pts |
| Collège Françoise GiroudBest against expectations: 4 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 170 | 92%+4 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
At the census, 7.9% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below Hérault’s towns (10.2%) and compared French towns (13.4%) alike. The typical income here, after tax and benefits, is €24,810 a year per consumption unit.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Museums and heritage in and near Sauvian. Best known first.
Art galleryMusée régional d'art contemporain Occitanie2.2 km east, in SérignanMuseumMuseumMusée d'Art Contemporain2.4 km southeast, in SérignanPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Nothing in Sauvian is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Sauvian 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauvian | 5,608 | — | C− | D | A− | C |
| Sérignan | 8,588 | 1.8 | D− | D | D | C+ |
| Vendres | 2,616 | 2 | D | C− | D | C− |
| Villeneuve-lès-Béziers | 4,500 | 2.4 | D | C− | C | C− |
| Valras-Plage | 4,432 | 3.4 | D− | D− | D− | C+ |
| Cers | 2,503 | 3.5 | — | D | — | C+ |
| Béziers | 81,545 | 4.1 | D | C | D | C− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades A− for safety, #12 of 84 in Hérault. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 27 burglaries and 28 acts of criminal damage.
They grade B−, better than 49% of compared French towns and #51 of 80 in Hérault. The lycée stands out: 96% of 370 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Marc Bloch in 2025, 2 points above the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €12.79/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so Sauvian grades D for cost of living.
Commune in Hérault, Occitanie
Sauvian is a commune of 5,608 people in the Communauté d'agglomération de Béziers-Méditerranée. 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.