Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,040 in Réunion. Few residents are of retirement age: 15% are 65 or over.
A tough set of grades. Its weakest is health: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 49% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Taken together, its subjects give Cilaos a D− overall, better than 2% of compared French towns. In the ranking it comes #20 of 22 in Réunion. Homes sell for a median €1,760/m²: 70 m² comes to 6.5 years of the median income per consumption unit in the Communauté d'agglomération CIVIS (Communauté Intercommunale des Villes Solidaires). Where it does best is walkability (B+) — 46% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 26% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 3 things Cilaos does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Cilaos 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.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Cilaos has 1 historic monument on the Culture ministry’s list, none at the highest level (classé).
The oldest protected part dates from the 20th century; the first monument here was protected in 2000.
0.6% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Other places to visit and museums in and near Cilaos. Best known first.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cilaos.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
From 2016 to 2025, 451 residents of Cilaos died, against 302 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 49% more. The nearest emergency department to Cilaos is Chu site Sud Saint Pierre, 13.9 mi away. Life expectancy at birth in Réunion is 84.5 years for women and 78.2 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. 5 GPs practise locally.
Source: INSEE, deaths by commune of residence 2016–2025 and censuses; Eurostat, death rates by age (© European Union); INSEE, BPE 2025; DREES, APL 2024; INSEE, life expectancy by département 2025 · Licence Ouverte · The care-home figures behind this are our own model (TownRatings), not official statistics.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
64 sales of houses and apartments in Cilaos, from July 2023 to June 2026, give the median of €1,760/m². Estimated advertised rent for houses: €11.25/m² a month. Advertised rents are estimated at €13.85/m² a month, near Réunion’s towns (€14.14/m²) and higher than compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,760/m² | 64 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Those aged 15 to 24 account for 11% of residents. Children under 15 make up 20%, lower than Réunion’s towns (21%) yet higher than compared French towns (17%). Over-65s are 15% of the population.
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Réunion 51.8%, France 51.8%.
| Cilaos | Réunion median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 21% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 28% | 26% |
| 65+ | 15% | 14% | 22% |
| No diploma | 51% | 35% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 20% | 21% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 13% | 17% | 18% |
| Higher education | 8.5% | 21% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Réunion median and France median: the median of compared communes
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Its schools’ results rank #24 of 24 in Réunion. The town’s pupils have a collège 0.8 mi away. The closest lycée for the general bac is 7.9 mi off.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Alsace CorréNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 52 | 77%+2 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
The typical income here, after tax and benefits, is €15,660 a year per consumption unit. At the census, 4.1% of working residents in Cilaos went to work by public transport.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The oldest protected building goes back to the 20th century. Homes from before 1919 make up 0.6% of the total, near Réunion’s towns (0.4%) and lower than compared French towns (7.4%).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
In 2025, criminal damage led the graded crimes in Cilaos. Each year (2023–2025 average), violence against people came to 12.7 per 1,000 residents and the graded property crimes to 9.2. For 2025, the figures show 74 offenses in the town.
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.
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · For burglary, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, 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, 15.9% of the index here. Because that share is over 10%, this Safety Grade is less sure than most. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Cilaos has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
One notable person was born in Cilaos.
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cilaos | 5,040 | — | D− | C− | B− | D− |
| Entre-Deux | 7,176 | 6.7 | — | D− | — | C− |
| Salazie | 7,268 | 8.2 | C | C− | B | D− |
| Le Tampon | 82,579 | 8.5 | D | D− | B+ | D |
| Saint-Louis | 54,941 | 9 | D− | D− | C | D− |
| La Plaine-des-Palmistes | 6,936 | 9.9 | D | D | B | D− |
| Les Avirons | 11,536 | 10 | C− | D− | A | C+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B− for safety, #13 of 22 in Réunion.
They grade C−, better than 24% of compared French towns. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,760/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Cilaos grades C− for cost of living.
Commune in Réunion
Cilaos is a commune of 5,040 people in the Communauté d'agglomération CIVIS (Communauté Intercommunale des Villes Solidaires). 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
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, employment, commuting) · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (income per consumption unit, poverty) · DGFiP, DVF property sales, July 2023 to June 2026 · Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025 · SSMSI, recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Ministry of Education (DEPP), brevet and bac results and value-added indicators, 2025 · INSEE, deaths by commune of residence 2016–2025 and censuses 2012–2023; Eurostat, death rates by age (© European Union); INSEE, BPE 2025 (care homes, emergency and maternity units, GPs, pharmacies); DREES, APL 2024; INSEE, life expectancy by département 2025 (provisional) · INSEE, BPE 2025 and Filosofi 200 m grid (walking distances) · 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.