Taken together, its subjects give Saint-Claude a B overall, better than 58% of compared French towns. In the ranking it comes #9 of 11 in Jura. Homes are affordable: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 2.4 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. It also does well on walkability (A−): 74% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 23% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. The local economy is weaker than most (C−): 1.3 jobs per working resident; 14.7% unemployment.
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.
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 Saint-Claude 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 Saint-Claude.
HousingCost of living A+
Buying in Saint-Claude costs less than in Jura’s towns and across compared French towns: the median sale is €879/m²
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The split in Saint-Claude: €1,436/m² for houses, €803/m² for apartments. No town in Jura costs less to buy into than Saint-Claude, at €879/m², the lowest of 11. Advertised rents are estimated at €8.97/m² a month, below both Jura’s towns (€10.38/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
€879/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Saint-Claude€879/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Jura median€1,658/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,436/m²
81
Apartments
€803/m²
250
€8.97/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€6.82 to €11.80/m² a month)
2.4
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€11.93/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€25,240
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes Haut-Jura Saint-Claude
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Work & commuteJobs & income C−
Unemployment in Saint-Claude, 14.7%, runs above Jura’s towns and compared French towns
Median disposable income comes to €22,680 a year per consumption unit. At the census, 3.0% of working residents in Saint-Claude didn’t travel to work at all. Nearly a quarter of the town’s working residents walked, cycled or took public transport to work in the 2023 census, against 13% for the median of compared French towns; 74% drove.
23%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving74%
On foot19%
Public transport3%
Bicycle1%
Motorbike or scooter0%
4,000
jobs based in Saint-Claude, 1.3 per working resident
14.7%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€22,680
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
3%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A−
Walkability: better than 81% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
History
Old homes shape Saint-Claude: 23% were built before 1919, more than in Jura’s towns and across compared French towns
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Its heritage reaches back to the 12th century. Part of the town has been protected as a historic area since 2000. On the Culture ministry’s list, Saint-Claude counts 5 historic monuments: 2 classé at the top level of protection and 3 inscrit at the second. Among the classé monuments in the town is Ancien palais abbatial.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Safety
Saint-Claude has more crime per resident than 69% of compared French towns
With 4,000 jobs for 3,150 working residents, Saint-Claude draws people in from neighbouring communes. Over 2025, Saint-Claude logged 217 recorded offenses. On average over 2023–2025, every 1,000 residents saw 13 violent offenses and 12.9 graded property crimes a year. Criminal damage topped the graded crimes in Saint-Claude (2025).
13recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearCSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage84
Other physical violence47
Family violence42
Sexual violence27
Vehicle theft11
Theft from vehicles6
Fraud60
Theft without violence47
Drug use36
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
12.9
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
217
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
1.2%
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 and burglary, 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, 1.2% of the index here. 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. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Schools
88.7% of candidates passed the brevet at the two collèges within 5 km, 2.2 points above the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The bac pass rate near Saint-Claude is 83.3%, below Jura’s towns (93.5%) and compared French towns (92.9%) alike. The town’s schools place #10 of 11 in Jura on results.
88%passed the bac (general and technological)CSchool Grade
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Fewer people in Saint-Claude hold a degree than in Jura’s towns or compared French towns: 21%
People 65 and over make up 26% of the town. Children under 15 make up 14%, near Jura’s towns (14%) and lower than compared French towns (17%). Half the people of Saint-Claude are older than 48.5.
48.5median age
Saint-ClaudeJura medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
26%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma32%
CAP or BEP24%
Baccalauréat17%
Higher education21%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 96 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
HealthHealth B
Allowing for age and care homes, deaths in Saint-Claude run lower than in 56% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Average lifespans in Jura: 85.1 years for women, 78.9 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 nationally. Its four care homes for older people (155 places) count their residents as Saint-Claude’s; allowing for them, deaths were 14% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 1,193 deaths locally from 2016 to 2025; there were 1,181, 1% fewer.
−14%deaths against expected, after care homesBHealth Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw99
Adjusted86
Median town88
Expected100
7
GPs in Saint-Claude · 4 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
0.5 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier Louis Jaillon de Saint Claude
14.3 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier du Haut Bugey Geovreisset
85.1 · 78.9
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Jura, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Mevlüt Erdinç: PSGMAG.NET, CC BY 2.0 · Nadir Belhadj: Doha Stadium Plus Qatar, CC BY 2.0 · Angélique Boyer: Barbara G Vásconez, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Suzanne Belperron: Archives Olivier Baroin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jasmine Demraoui: Cris Huff, CC BY-SA 4.0 · René Nicod: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain
Saint-Claude’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 Saint-Claude
Is Saint-Claude safe?
It grades C for safety, #6 of 11 in Jura.
Are schools in Saint-Claude good?
They grade C, better than 32% of compared French towns. 88% of 136 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Pré Saint-Sauveur in 2025, 4 points below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Saint-Claude expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Saint-Claude grades A+ for cost of living.
About Saint-Claude
Commune in Jura, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Saint-Claude is a commune of 8,386 people in the Communauté de communes Haut-Jura Saint-Claude. 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.
