Good value, with catches elsewhere. Its best grade is for cost of living — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.1 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. At A− overall, La Châtre ranks #4 of 11 in Indre. On that grade it does better than 76% of compared French towns. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: nearly three in five residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 22% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. The catch is safety — an average of 11.2 recorded violent incidents and 24.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior).
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 La Châtre 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 La Châtre.
History
More protected monuments for its size in La Châtre than in Indre or compared French towns: 30 per 10,000 residents
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Homes from before 1919 make up 15% of the total, above both Indre’s towns (14%) and compared French towns (7.4%). Among the classé monuments in La Châtre is Auberge de Notre-Dame. The town has 12 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 2 classé, the highest protection, and 10 inscrit, the second level.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HousingCost of living A
Buying in La Châtre costs less than in Indre’s towns or across compared French towns: the median sale is €1,037/m²
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €8.45/m² a month, about level with Indre’s towns (€8.76/m²) and below compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Between July 2023 and June 2026, buyers took 181 homes in La Châtre. Houses accounted for 86% of sales, apartments for the rest.
€1,037/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
La Châtre€1,037/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Indre median€1,176/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,067/m²
156
€8.45/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€6.59 to €10.84/m² a month)
3.1
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€7.27/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€23,730
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes de la Châtre et Sainte-Sévère
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Older residents shape La Châtre: 39% are 65 or over, above Indre’s towns and compared French towns
A fifth of adults hold a degree, lower than both Indre’s towns (21%) and compared French towns (30%). Children under 15 count for just over a tenth of the people here. Half of La Châtre is older than 56.2, half younger.
56.2median age
La ChâtreIndre medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
39%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma30%
CAP or BEP29%
Baccalauréat16%
Higher education20%
Women and men · all residents
57% women, 43% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 77 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Indre 53.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
INSEE, census 2023 · Indre median and France median: the median of compared communes
Safety
For crime per resident, La Châtre sits above 91% of compared French towns
On the Safety Grade, La Châtre ranks 9th of the 11 compared towns in Indre. All told, La Châtre had 166 recorded offenses in 2025. The town has 2,750 jobs for 1,300 working residents, so people come in from nearby communes to work. The commonest graded crime in the town was criminal damage (2025).
11.2recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage81
Other physical violence41
Burglary19
Family violence17
Sexual violence8
Theft without violence41
Fraud34
Drug use9
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.
11.2
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
24.6
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
166
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
2.8%
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 · For armed robbery, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, the count isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in a year of the last three), so the index uses the département’s average, 2.8% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses. Crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its residents, so a town that draws people in from around can look higher.
Work & commuteJobs & income C−
More people in La Châtre are out of work than in Indre’s towns or across compared French towns: 15.6%
After tax and benefits, the median income is €22,470 a year per consumption unit. At the census, 21.7% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, higher than both Indre’s towns (12.0%) and compared French towns (13.4%).
22%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving72%
On foot17%
Bicycle3%
Public transport2%
Motorbike or scooter1%
2,750
jobs based in La Châtre, 2.1 per working resident
15.6%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€22,470
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
6%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A
Walkability: better than 86% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth A−
Mortality in La Châtre, once ages and care homes are allowed for, undercuts Indre’s towns and compared French towns: 78 per 100 expected
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
The nearest emergency department to La Châtre is Centre hospitalier, 20.5 mi away. From 2016 to 2025, 897 residents of La Châtre died, against 865 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 4% more. Women in Indre live to 84 on average and men to 76.9 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. For a family doctor, residents of La Châtre can choose among 5 GPs.
−22%deaths against expected, after care homesA−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw104
Adjusted78
Median town88
Expected100
5
GPs in La Châtre · 2.3 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
20.5 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier
20.5 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier
84 · 76.9
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Indre, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Auberge de Notre-Dame: Photo: Piclgran · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Puits gothique: Photo: ManiacParisien · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ancien château seigneurial: Photo: CVB · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Maison du 15e siècle: Photo: Piclgran · CC BY-SA 3.0
Émile Acollas: Nadar, Public domain · Marcel Dussault: damien, CC BY 3.0 · Ben Toury: G.Garitan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · André Mornet: Félix Potin company (1922), Public domain · François Charles Delavau: Toullion, Tony, Public domain · Stéphane Ajasson de Grandsagne: Achille Devéria, Public domain
La Châtre’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 La Châtre
Is La Châtre safe?
It grades D for safety, #9 of 11 in Indre. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 19 burglaries and 81 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in La Châtre good?
They grade B+, better than 69% of compared French towns and #3 of 12 in Indre. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is La Châtre expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so La Châtre grades A for cost of living.
About La Châtre
Commune in Indre, Centre-Val de Loire
La Châtre is a commune of 4,037 people in the Communauté de communes de la Châtre et Sainte-Sévère. 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
Population
4,037 (INSEE, census 2023)
Intercommunality
Communauté de communes de la Châtre et Sainte-Sévère
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.
