Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: 88% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 23% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Dole’s overall grade is B−, better than just over half of compared French towns. Cost of living is a strength too: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 4.7 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Crime is the sore point: an average of 10.8 recorded violent incidents and 16.7 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Incomes are on the low side: 1.7 jobs per working resident; 12.9% unemployment. Its other grades sit near the middle: B− for schools and B− for health.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025).
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 Dole 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 Dole.
History
Dole is rich in protected monuments: 21 per 10,000 residents, more than in both Jura’s towns and compared French towns
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
13% of its homes were built before 1919, above Jura’s towns (9.5%) and compared French towns (7.4%) alike. Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 1967. On the Culture ministry’s list, Dole counts 50 historic monuments: 16 classé at the top level of protection and 33 inscrit at the second. Among the classé monuments in the town is Ancien couvent des Cordeliers (puis palais de justice).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Work & commuteJobs & income C
Getting about on foot is easier in Dole than in 90% of compared French towns
Nearly a quarter of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, above both Jura’s towns (17.6%) and compared French towns (13.4%). Unemployment stands at 12.9%. Per consumption unit, the median disposable income is €23,850 a year.
23%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving71%
On foot11%
Public transport8%
Bicycle4%
Motorbike or scooter1%
14,850
jobs based in Dole, 1.7 per working resident
12.9%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€23,850
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
5%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A
Walkability: better than 90% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Dole records more crime per resident than 74% of compared French towns
In 2025, criminal damage led the graded crimes in Dole. Police and gendarmerie figures for Dole show 572 offenses in 2025. This Jura town comes 9th of the 11 compared towns in Jura on the Safety Grade. Jobs outnumber working residents in Dole (14,850 to 8,750): it draws people in from around.
10.8recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearCSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage210
Family violence97
Other physical violence90
Sexual violence63
Burglary50
Theft from vehicles37
Vehicle theft25
Drug use256
Theft without violence225
Fraud193
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.
10.8
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
16.7
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
572
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 · 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. 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.
Who lives here
A young town: 12% of people in Dole are 15 to 24, more than in both Jura’s towns and compared French towns
People 65 and over make up 27% of the town, close to Jura’s towns (27%) and above compared French towns (22%). Typical age in Dole: 47.1, the median. 30% of adults who have left education hold a higher-education diploma (Jura 28%, France 30%).
47.1median age
DoleJura medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
27%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma22%
CAP or BEP25%
Baccalauréat16%
Higher education30%
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 84 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Jura 52.0%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Jura median and France median: the median of compared communes
HousingCost of living B+
The median sale price of homes in Dole is €1,723/m²
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
In Dole, houses go for €2,000/m² and apartments for €1,587/m². Renting a house costs an estimated €11.52/m² a month. The sales split: 38% houses, the rest apartments.
€1,723/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Dole€1,723/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Jura median€1,658/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,000/m²
406
Apartments
€1,587/m²
666
€10.79/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€8.48 to €13.73/m² a month)
4.7
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€11.52/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€25,450
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Dole
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Schools
87.5% of candidates passed the brevet at the four collèges within 5 km, a point below the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Schools rank #6 of 11 in Jura. At the lycées within 5 km of Dole, 93.7% passed the bac, near both Jura’s towns (93.5%) and compared French towns (92.9%).
96%passed the bac (general and technological)B−School Grade
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth B−
Adjusted for age and care homes, Dole sees more deaths than 51% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
18 GPs practise in Dole. Its five care homes for older people (323 places) count their residents as Dole’s; allowing for them, deaths were 12% below expected. From 2016 to 2025, 2,692 residents of Dole died, against 2,757 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 2% fewer. Life expectancy in Jura: 85.1 years for women and 78.9 for men (2025); France averages 85.9 and 80.3.
−12%deaths against expected, after care homesB−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw98
Adjusted88
Median town88
Expected100
18
GPs in Dole · 4.9 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
0.8 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Ch Louis Pasteur Dole
0.3 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Ch Louis Pasteur Dole
85.1 · 78.9
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Jura, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Ancien couvent des Cordeliers (puis palais de justice): Photo: Lithographie d'Engelmann d'après un dessin de Fragonard - Taylor, Nodier, De Cailleux · Public domain · Collège de l'Arc, actuellement musée archéologique: Photo: Machin39 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Demeure dite hôtel de Vurry: Photo: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Église Notre-Dame: Photo: Kent Wang · CC BY 4.0
Louis Pasteur: Paul Nadar, Public domain · Antoine Béthouart: Fhytac532, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Philippe Erulin: Rama, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Édouard Butin: Liondartois, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Antoine Brun: Paulus Pontius / Anselm van Hulle, Public domain · Gilbert Bachelu: Forestier, 1818, Public domain
Dole’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 Dole
Is Dole safe?
It grades C for safety, #9 of 11 in Jura. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 50 burglaries and 210 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Dole good?
They grade B−, better than 48% of compared French towns and #6 of 11 in Jura. 96% of 200 candidates passed the bac at Lycée général Charles Nodier in 2025, 2 points below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Dole expensive to live in?
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €10.79/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Dole grades B+ for cost of living.
About Dole
Commune in Jura, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Dole is a commune of 23,840 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Dole. 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.
