Sète has lower living standards than 91% of French communes of 1,000+
25.6% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.0% in the median commune of 1,000+. Sète grades C− for jobs and income: #62 of 96 in Hérault. The census puts unemployment at 17.1% of the labor force aged 15 to 64, against 8.5% in the median commune of 1,000+.
Where Sète stands out on work
A local job center
18,000 jobs are based in Sète for 14,200 residents in work; the median commune of 1,000+ has 0.6 jobs per resident in work. The town draws workers from the communes around it. Jobs and residents ↓
More unemployment than most communes
2,830 of the 16,550 people aged 15 to 64 in Sète’s labor force said they were looking for work at the 2023 census; in the median commune of 1,000+ it is 8.5%. Unemployment ↓
Many get to work without a car
29% of residents in work walk, cycle or take public transport to work, against 8% in the median commune of 1,000+; 97% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery. Walkability ↓
Written from the data on this page: INSEE census 2023, Filosofi 2023 and the BPE 2025 amenity directory.
Jobs & income in Sète: graded C−
Its three measures together rank it better than 15% of compared communes of 1,000+: #62 of 96 in Hérault.
Its strongest measure is jobs per resident in work; its weakest, unemployment.
How the grade works
Each measure is ranked against every French commune of 1,000 residents or more (higher income and more jobs per resident in work are better; lower unemployment is better). The ranks are averaged, at least two of the three being needed, and the average is ranked again to give the letter. Nothing else on this page is graded.
More jobs than workers in Sète: 1.3 times as many
At least 3,840 of the jobs in Sète are held by people who live elsewhere, more if some residents work outside the town. The median commune of 1,000+ has 0.6 jobs per resident in work.
Sète has more jobs per resident in work than 79 of the other 95.
The 2023 census counts jobs where people work and residents where they live.
One in six people aged 15 to 64 in Sète’s labor force is unemployed
Each dot is another town of 2,500+ in Hérault with a Jobs & income Grade: Sète has less unemployment than 11 of these 95.
Unemployment in Sète fell from 22.3% in 2012 to 17.1% in 2023; in the median commune of 1,000+ in Hérault it went from 13.3% to 11.2%.
Census unemployment aged 15 to 64 (self-declared; not the ILO rate, not monthly), on today’s commune boundaries. Each census year pools five years of surveys (more around 2021, when the survey was delayed a year), so INSEE advises comparing years at least five apart, six when 2019–2023 is involved, as these are; how the census asks about work also changed from 2015, so read changes since 2012 with care. The other lines are the median commune of 1,000+, not official rates.
Census unemployment is what people aged 15 to 64 say about themselves (looking for work), as a share of those in work or looking. It runs higher than France’s official (ILO) rate and isn’t a jobseeker count.
Census 2023.
Walkability in Sète: graded A+
Better than 95% of compared communes of 1,000+ on two measures together: #2 of 96 in Hérault. The share of residents living within 800 m (half a mile) of each everyday place, measured in a straight line from where they live.
97% of Sète’s residents live within 800 m of a bakery, against 64% in the median commune of 1,000+.
Straight-line distance is a proxy: a river, railway or motorway can make the walk longer. Places: INSEE’s permanent amenity directory (BPE) 2025; where people live: INSEE’s 200 m population grid (Filosofi 2021).
7,970 people come into Sète to work, most from Frontignan and Montpellier
- Frontignan1,970
- Montpellier640
- Balaruc-les-Bains520
- Poussan400
- Gigean380
- Balaruc-le-Vieux350
- Agde300
- Mèze300
- Marseillan≈150
- Villeveyrac≈140
- Montpellier1,220
- Frontignan650
- Balaruc-les-Bains≈190
- Béziers≈160
- Saint-Jean-de-Védas≈140
- Balaruc-le-Vieux≈140
- Poussan≈130
- Agde≈120
- Gigean≈110
- Mèze≈110
44% of the people who work in Sète live outside it; Frontignan, 4.2 mi away, sends the most (1,970). Going the other way, Montpellier is the biggest single destination (1,220).
INSEE, 2023 census, home-to-work flows (published June 2026): residents in work aged 15 and over by commune of home and of work. Weighted survey estimates, rounded to 10. People living abroad who work here aren’t counted.
The communes that send the most workers into Sète, and those where its residents most often work: 2023 census, by home and workplace commune. Routes of 100 people or fewer aren’t listed; those under 200 are approximate (≈).
The median living standard in Sète is €22,740
Higher than 10 of the other 95 graded towns of 2,500+ in Hérault. Communauté d'agglomération Sète Agglopôle Méditerranée as a whole: €24,500.
A consumption unit counts the first adult as 1, each other person aged 14 or over as 0.5 and each child under 14 as 0.3. Half of residents live on more, half on less. The poverty line is 60% of France’s median.
Disposable income after tax and benefits, per consumption unit (UC) to allow for the size and make-up of the household: Filosofi 2023.
For 29% of residents in work, the trip from Sète is on foot, by bike or transit
The census records one main mode per person, the one used for the longest part of the journey. Département and France: every commune’s residents in work together.
70% of people in work who live in Sète also work there (no distance at all, as we measure it), so there is no median distance to give; 7% travel 30 km or more.
Distances are straight lines between commune points (the town centres INSEE and IGN give), not routes or journey times; working in your own commune counts as 0 km and falls in the first band. Workplaces abroad or outside our communes have no distance, so the bands add up to less than 100%. Département and France: residents in work of every commune of 1,000+ together.
The main way residents in work aged 15 and over get to work, 2023 census. “No travel” is mostly people who work at home.
Jobseekers in Hérault next to France since 2015
Over the 12 months to August 2026, there were on average 9.9 registered jobseekers in category A per 100 residents aged 15 to 64 in Hérault (75,150 people), against 7.9 across France. In 2015 it was 11.
France Travail – DARES, monthly registrations at the end of each month (not seasonally adjusted, so we average 12 months), people of every age, per 100 residents aged 15 to 64 at the 2023 census. Registrations count people signed up with France Travail, whether or not they receive benefits. Since January 2025 people claiming RSA, young people followed by a mission locale and people followed by Cap emploi are registered automatically, so counts since then aren’t comparable with earlier ones (the 12-month average takes a year to absorb the change); spring 2025 brought further changes to updating and sanctions. In 2022 a new monthly update form moved some people from category A to B or C.
Registered jobseekers per 100 residents aged 15 to 64, Hérault: people registered with France Travail in category A (looking for work, with no work at all in the month), averaged over 12 months, since 2015. This is the département’s figure, not Sète’s, and not an unemployment rate.
Sète next to French communes of 1,000+ of 32,000 to 61,000: 133rd of 183 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Jobs per worker | Unemployment | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris 6e Paris | 40,389 | 2.5 | 7.8% | €48,110 | A+ |
| 2 | Paris 8e Paris | 35,317 | 9.5 | 8.2% | €51,690 | A+ |
| 3 | Neuilly-sur-Seine Hauts-de-Seine | 59,538 | 2.0 | 8.1% | €56,030 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 131 | Corbeil-Essonnes Essonne | 54,471 | 1.0 | 11.4% | €20,820 | C− |
| 132 | Le Port Réunion | 33,969 | 2.4 | 37.3% | €16,710 | C− |
| 133 | Sète Hérault | 45,337 | 1.3 | 17.1% | €22,740 | C− |
| 134 | Lens Pas-de-Calais | 32,920 | 2.0 | 23.0% | €18,660 | D |
| 135 | Marseille 5e Bouches-du-Rhône | 45,702 | 1.0 | 14.3% | €22,890 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 183 | Épinay-sur-Seine Seine-Saint-Denis | 52,833 | 0.5 | 16.3% | €19,650 | D− |
Jobs & income letters rank against every French commune of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only. Income: median per consumption unit.
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Sète, and others in Hérault.
Next to Sète: how nearby places compare
| Town | Jobs | Per worker | Unemployment | Income | Jobs | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sète | 18,000 | 1.3 | 17.1% | €22,740 | C− | A+ |
| Balaruc-les-Bains 2.8 mi | 2,270 | 0.9 | 13.7% | €26,450 | C+ | A− |
| Balaruc-le-Vieux 3.8 mi | 1,220 | 1.1 | 10.2% | €27,840 | B+ | B+ |
| Frontignan 4.2 mi | 6,560 | 0.7 | 14.0% | €24,580 | D | A− |
| Mèze 4.5 mi | 3,200 | 0.7 | 15.1% | €24,180 | D | A− |
| Poussan 5.6 mi | 1,390 | 0.5 | 9.1% | €25,860 | C | B− |
| Gigean 6.6 mi | 1,840 | 0.6 | 10.5% | €25,740 | C | B+ |
Jobs based in each place, jobs per resident in work, unemployment and median income per consumption unit, with each town’s Jobs & income and Walkability letters.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Jobs in the commune. INSEE’s census count of jobs whose place of work is in the commune, held by residents or by people who commute in.
- Residents in work. People aged 15 or over who live in the commune and have a job, wherever it is (INSEE’s “actifs occupés”).
- Unemployment. From the census: people aged 15 to 64 who say they are unemployed, as a share of the labor force (those in work or looking). Higher than the official ILO rate.
- Income per consumption unit. Filosofi’s median disposable income per consumption unit: the household’s income after tax and benefits, divided to allow for its size, so a couple with children compares with a single person. It isn’t household income.
- Walkability. Six everyday places (bakery, pharmacy, grocery, primary school, GP, post office) within 800 m in a straight line, averaged over where residents live, together with the share of residents in work who walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
- Compared communes of 1,000+. Every French commune of 1,000 residents or more, the pool the grades rank against; “median” is the one in the middle. The dots show the département’s towns of 2,500+, the pool of its rank.
Questions about work in Sète
Is Sète a good place for work?
Sète grades C− for jobs and income, better than 15% of compared communes of 1,000+, and #62 of 96 in Hérault. It has 1.3 jobs per resident in work, 17.1% unemployment among 15- to 64-year-olds and a median income of €22,740 per consumption unit.
How many jobs are there in Sète?
About 18,000 at the 2023 census, for 14,200 residents in work: 1.3 per resident in work, against 0.6 in the median commune of 1,000+.
What is the unemployment rate in Sète?
17.1% of the labor force aged 15 to 64 at the 2023 census (2,830 people), against 8.5% in the median commune of 1,000+. The census rate is self-declared and runs higher than the official ILO rate.
What is the median income in Sète?
€22,740 a year per consumption unit after tax and benefits (Filosofi 2023), against €26,310 in the median commune of 1,000+. 26% of residents live below the poverty line.
How do people in Sète get to work?
60% drive, 10% take public transport, 15% walk and 4% cycle; 4% don’t travel, mostly because they work at home (2023 census).
Can you get by on foot in Sète?
Sète grades A+ for walkability. 97% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, 99% of a pharmacy and 92% of a grocery, measured in a straight line.
Sources: INSEE, population census 2023 (employment, jobs at place of work, mode of transport to work) · INSEE, 2023 census, home-to-work flows (June 2026); distances between commune points by TownRatings · INSEE, censuses 2012, 2017 and 2023 on 2026 boundaries (activity and unemployment) · France Travail – DARES, registered jobseekers by département, monthly (updated September 2026) · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (income per consumption unit, poverty rate) · INSEE, permanent amenity directory (BPE) 2025 · INSEE, Filosofi 200 m grid 2021 · 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.