Sète grades D overall: better than 10% of compared French towns, and #67 of 84 in Hérault. Its weakest subject is cost of living (D): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 10 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its strongest is walkability (A+): 97% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 29% 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.
Each subject compares Sète 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.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Sète.
Work & commuteJobs & income C−
More people in Sète are out of work than in Hérault’s towns or across compared French towns: 17.1%
On this, Sète is above both Hérault’s towns (11.8%) and compared French towns (10.1%). Sète has 18,000 jobs for 14,200 working residents, 1.3 per worker. The median disposable income is €22,740 a year per consumption unit.
29%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving60%
On foot15%
Public transport10%
Motorbike or scooter7%
Bicycle4%
18,000
jobs based in Sète, 1.3 per working resident
17.1%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€22,740
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
4%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A+
Walkability: better than 95% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HousingCost of living D
The median sale price of homes in Sète is €3,485/m²
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
That is the middle of 3,060 sales of houses and apartments in Sète from July 2023 to June 2026, against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns and €3,252/m² for the median of compared towns in Hérault.
€3,485/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Sète€3,485/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Hérault median€3,252/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€4,742/m²
370
Apartments
€3,362/m²
2,690
€13.52/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€10.65 to €17.16/m² a month)
10
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€16.36/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,500
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté d'agglomération Sète Agglopôle Méditerranée
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Sète records more crime per resident than 86% of compared French towns
Police and gendarmerie recorded 1,376 offenses in the graded categories in Sète in 2025. Violence against people ran at 10.5 per 1,000 residents a year and the graded property crimes at 21.7 (2023–2025 average). For armed robbery, 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, 0.1% of the index here.
10.5recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage524
Other physical violence232
Family violence147
Burglary142
Theft from vehicles142
Vehicle theft97
Sexual violence92
Theft without violence644
Fraud372
Drug use126
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.
10.5
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
21.7
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
1,376
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
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
Who lives here
Older residents shape Sète: 34% are 65 or over, above Hérault’s towns and compared French towns
In the comparison, Sète comes above both Hérault’s towns (24%) and compared French towns (22%). Children under 15 make up 13% of residents.
53.6median age
SèteHérault medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
34%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma21%
CAP or BEP23%
Baccalauréat19%
Higher education30%
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 85 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.
INSEE, census 2023 · Hérault median and France median: the median of compared communes
HealthHealth C+
Sète’s death rate, adjusted for age and care homes, is higher than in 56% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
From 2016 to 2025, 6,060 residents of Sète died, against 6,373 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 5% fewer. Its five care homes for older people (391 places) count their residents as Sète’s; allowing for them, deaths were 10% below expected. The adjustment lowers most towns’ figures, so the comparison is what counts: the median of compared French towns is 12% below expected. The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic.
−10%deaths against expected, after care homesC+Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw95
Adjusted90
Median town88
Expected100
56
GPs in Sète · 4.8 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
0.6 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Hopital Saint Clair les Hopitaux du Bassin de Thau Sete
0.7 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Hopital Saint Clair les Hopitaux du Bassin de Thau Sete
86.3 · 80.6
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Hérault, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
9 historic monuments and a protected historic area since 1990
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry lists 9 historic monuments in Sète: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 8 inscrit (the second level). Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 1990.
Georges Brassens: Studio Harcourt., Public domain · Fidji Simo: Anthony Quintano from Westminster, United States, CC BY 2.0 · Andy Delord: 34 super héros, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jean Vilar: Hans-Joachim Koch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yann Bodiger: Gaillac, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Henri Serre: Carlo Lizzani, Leonida Barboni, Duilio Cinematografica, Dino De Laurentiis Distribuzione., Public domain
Sète’s neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Sète
Is Sète safe?
It grades D for safety, #65 of 84 in Hérault. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 142 burglaries and 524 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Sète good?
They grade B−, better than 48% of compared French towns and #54 of 80 in Hérault. The lycée stands out: 100% of 123 candidates passed the bac at Lycée privé polyvalent Saint-Joseph 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.
Is Sète expensive to live in?
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €13.52/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so Sète grades D for cost of living.
About Sète
Commune in Hérault, Occitanie
Sète is a commune of 45,337 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Sète Agglopôle 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
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.
