Low prices, and some weak spots to weigh against them. The weak point is safety — an average of 13 recorded violent incidents and 21.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Fewer journeys need a car: 92% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 32% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. It also does well on cost of living: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 4.6 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Put together, the subjects come to a C+ overall, better than just over two fifths of compared French towns. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: C+ for schools and B− for health.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, 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 Lons-le-Saunier 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 Lons-le-Saunier.
History
Lons-le-Saunier has 83 historic monuments, more per resident than almost any compared French town
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Most of the list is houses and mansions: 66 of 83. Since 2004, part of the town has been a site patrimonial remarquable, a protected historic area. Scaled to its population, that is 50 protected monuments for every 10,000 people in Lons-le-Saunier. Among the classé monuments locally is Église Saint-Désiré.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Work & commuteJobs & income C
For walkability, Lons-le-Saunier ranks above 95% of compared French towns
Unemployment runs at 12.9%. Lons-le-Saunier holds 14,750 jobs; 6,200 of its residents are in work, so 2.4 jobs each. Median disposable income comes to €23,090 a year per consumption unit.
32%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving62%
On foot24%
Bicycle5%
Public transport4%
Motorbike or scooter2%
14,750
jobs based in Lons-le-Saunier, 2.4 per working resident
12.9%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€23,090
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
Safety
Lons-le-Saunier sees more crime per resident than 90% of compared French towns
Over 2025, Lons-le-Saunier logged 629 recorded offenses. The town ranks last of the 11 compared towns in Jura on the Safety Grade. Also worth knowing: among the graded crimes here, the most frequent was criminal damage (2025).
13recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage257
Other physical violence105
Family violence78
Theft from vehicles70
Burglary48
Sexual violence44
Vehicle theft27
Theft without violence203
Fraud118
Drug use90
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.
13
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
21.6
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
629
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.
HousingCost of living B+
Median price in Lons-le-Saunier: €1,658/m²
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The split in Lons-le-Saunier: €1,854/m² for houses, €1,601/m² for apartments. A house rents for an estimated €10.16/m² a month. Of the homes sold, 23% were houses.
€1,658/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Lons-le-Saunier€1,658/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Jura median€1,658/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,854/m²
158
Apartments
€1,601/m²
542
€10.38/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€7.89 to €13.66/m² a month)
4.6
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€10.16/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€25,360
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté d'agglomération ECLA (Espace Communautaire Lons Agglomération)
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
A young town: 12% of people in Lons-le-Saunier are 15 to 24, more than in Jura’s towns and across compared French towns
Children under 15 make up 14%, near Jura’s towns (14%) and lower than compared French towns (17%). Retirement age and beyond: 28% of residents are 65 or older. Line up the people of Lons-le-Saunier by age and the one in the middle is 47.2.
47.2median age
Lons-le-SaunierJura medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
28%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma21%
CAP or BEP24%
Baccalauréat17%
Higher education31%
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Jura 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth B−
Lons-le-Saunier’s death rate, adjusted for age and care homes, is higher than in 55% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Its six care homes for older people (380 places) count their residents as Lons-le-Saunier’s; allowing for them, deaths were 10% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 2,414 deaths here from 2016 to 2025; there were 2,486, 3% more. Life expectancy in Jura: 85.1 years for women and 78.9 for men (2025); France averages 85.9 and 80.3.
−10%deaths against expected, after care homesB−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw103
Adjusted90
Median town88
Expected100
13
GPs in Lons-le-Saunier · 4.2 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
0.4 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Ch Lons
0.4 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Ch Lons
85.1 · 78.9
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Jura, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Église Saint-Désiré: Photo: Benoît Prieur · CC0 · Hôtel-Dieu: Photo: photography taken by Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Monument commémoratif, dit statue de Rouget de Lisle: Photo: Daniel CULSAN · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Église des Cordeliers: Photo: photography taken by Christophe.Finot · CC BY-SA 3.0
Bernard Clavel: Photographe de la Ville de Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, dans le cadre de sa mission ; scan par Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Maurice Joly: Ernest Eugène Appert, Public domain · Michel Jouvet: Diane DJ, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sylvain Curinier: Sylvaincurinier, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pierre Sage: Zz42, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Robinson Stévenin: Globetrotteur17, CC BY-SA 2.0
Lons-le-Saunier’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 Lons-le-Saunier
Is Lons-le-Saunier safe?
It grades D for safety. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 48 burglaries and 257 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Lons-le-Saunier good?
They grade C+, better than 42% of compared French towns and #8 of 11 in Jura. 96% of 390 candidates passed the bac at Lycée général et technologique Jean Michel 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 Lons-le-Saunier expensive to live in?
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €10.38/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Lons-le-Saunier grades B+ for cost of living.
About Lons-le-Saunier
Commune in Jura, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Lons-le-Saunier is a commune of 16,618 people in the Communauté d'agglomération ECLA (Espace Communautaire Lons Agglomération). 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.
