Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Réunion, this town has 39,207 residents.
The data are hard on it. Buying in is costly: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 8.8 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Saint-Joseph grades D overall, better than 14% of compared French towns. That places it #5 of 22 in Réunion. Jobs & income is weaker too (D−) — 0.8 jobs per working resident; 35.6% unemployment. Recorded crime is low: an average of 9.4 recorded violent incidents and 4.7 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. It also trails on health — after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 13% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for schools and B for walkability.
Figures: recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The one thing Saint-Joseph does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Saint-Joseph 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 →
Saint-Joseph has 4 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list, none at the highest level (classé).
The oldest protected part dates from the 19th century; the first monument here was protected in 2022.
0.4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Joseph.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Houses in Saint-Joseph sell for €2,292/m² and apartments for €2,200/m². House rents are put at about €11.42/m² a month. 534 houses and apartments changed hands in the town from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,292/m² | 483 |
| Apartments | €2,200/m² | 51 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Its care home for older people (80 places) counts its residents as Saint-Joseph’s; allowing for it, deaths were 13% above expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 2,516 deaths locally from 2016 to 2025; there were 2,952, 17% more. The nearest emergency department to Saint-Joseph is Chu site Sud Saint Pierre, 8.8 mi away. The town has 33 family doctors.
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 adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic.
More of the graded crimes in Saint-Joseph were family violence than anything else (2025). Police and gendarmerie recorded 557 offenses locally in 2025. On the Safety Grade, Saint-Joseph ranks 2nd of the 22 compared towns in Réunion.
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 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, 0.3% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
20% are under 15, about level with Réunion’s towns (21%) and above compared French towns (17%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 12% of the population. Residents of Saint-Joseph have a median age of 40.7.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Réunion 51.8%, France 51.8%.
| Saint-Joseph | Réunion median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 21% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 13% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 28% | 26% |
| 65+ | 16% | 14% | 22% |
| No diploma | 40% | 35% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 22% | 21% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| Higher education | 16% | 21% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Réunion median and France median: the median of compared communes
The median disposable income was €16,870 a year per consumption unit, below both Réunion’s towns (€19,045) and compared French towns (€25,970). At the census, 3.3% of working residents in Saint-Joseph 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.
0.4% of homes date from before 1919. 3 of the 4 are industrial sites. The protected list starts in the 19th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Near Saint-Joseph, 92.1% of lycée candidates passed the bac, about level with compared French towns (92.9%) and above Réunion’s towns (90.8%). Collège pupils travel 0.9 mi to the nearest one. Schools rank #17 of 24 in Réunion.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Joseph HubertNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 205 | 79%+2 pts |
| Lycée général et technologique Pierre PoivreNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 235 | 94%±0 pts |
| Lycée professionnel Paul LangevinBest against expectations: 7 points above the expected rateVocational lycée | Vocational lycée | 169 | 85%+7 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Other places to visit and museums in and near Saint-Joseph. Best known first.
Saint-Joseph has 4 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list, none at the highest level (classé).
Usine du Piton: Photo: Thierry Caro · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Four à chaux et débarcadère de Manapany: Photo: Clémenceau Lauret · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Usine Langevin: Photo: Thierry Caro · CC BY-SA 4.0
2 notable people were born in Saint-Joseph.
Gaël Payet: Dadam97490, CC BY-SA 3.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Joseph | 39,207 | — | D | D | A | D |
| Petite-Île | 13,067 | 4.4 | D | D− | A− | D |
| Saint-Philippe | 5,082 | 8 | — | D | — | D− |
| Le Tampon | 82,579 | 9.9 | D | D− | B+ | D |
| Saint-Pierre | 85,038 | 10 | D− | D− | C | D− |
| Entre-Deux | 7,176 | 13 | — | D− | — | C− |
| Saint-Louis | 54,941 | 15 | D− | D− | C | D− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades A for safety, #2 of 22 in Réunion. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 13 burglaries and 133 acts of criminal damage.
They grade C+, better than 43% of compared French towns and #17 of 24 in Réunion. 94% of 235 candidates passed the bac at Lycée général et technologique Pierre Poivre in 2025, at the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €13.84/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so Saint-Joseph grades D for cost of living.
Commune in Réunion
Saint-Joseph is a commune of 39,207 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Sud. 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.