Dax grades D overall: better than 8% of compared French towns. Its weakest subject is safety (D−): an average of 16.6 recorded violent incidents and 29.2 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. At the median price of €2,500/m², a 70 m² home costs 6.9 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Dax. Its strongest is walkability (A): 90% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 19% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
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 Dax 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.
Musée de l'aviation légère de l'armée de Terre et de l'hélicoptère: Musée de l'ALAT et de l'hélicoptère, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Dax.
Safety
Dax records more crime per resident than 98% of compared French towns
Jobs outnumber working residents in Dax (15,600 to 8,300): it draws people in from around. This Landes town ranks last of the 29 compared towns in Landes on the Safety Grade. Police and gendarmerie recorded 1,004 offenses locally in 2025. Also worth knowing: the graded crime recorded most locally was criminal damage (2025).
16.6recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearD−Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage392
Family violence191
Other physical violence151
Sexual violence87
Burglary72
Theft from vehicles62
Vehicle theft49
Theft without violence705
Fraud160
Drug use98
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.
16.6
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
29.2
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
1,004
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, the count isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in a year of the last three), so the index uses the département’s average, 0.1% 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.
HealthHealth D
Dax loses more people than its age profile suggests, 111 per 100 expected, above Landes’ towns and compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Life expectancy in Landes: 85.5 years for women and 80.3 for men (2025); France averages 85.9 and 80.3. From 2016 to 2025, 3,839 residents of Dax died, against 2,982 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 29% more. The town has 49 family doctors.
+11%deaths against expected, after care homesDHealth Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw129
Adjusted111
Median town88
Expected100
49
GPs in Dax · 5 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
0.8 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier de Dax
0.9 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier de Dax
85.5 · 80.3
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Landes, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
More people in Dax are out of work than in Landes’ towns or across compared French towns: 16.3%
Half of residents lived on more than €23,230 a year per consumption unit, below both Landes’ towns (€25,750) and compared French towns (€25,970). The census found 19.3% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
19%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving76%
On foot11%
Bicycle5%
Public transport4%
Motorbike or scooter2%
15,600
jobs based in Dax, 1.9 per working resident
16.3%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€23,230
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 88% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Children make up only 12% of Dax, fewer than in Landes’ towns and across compared French towns
29% of residents are 65 or over, about level with Landes’ towns (28%) and above compared French towns (22%). Residents of Dax have a median age of 49.3.
49.3median age
DaxLandes medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
29%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma22%
CAP or BEP25%
Baccalauréat19%
Higher education28%
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 82 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Landes 51.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
INSEE, census 2023 · Landes median and France median: the median of compared communes
HousingCost of living C
Dax gets a C for cost of living
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The median price, €2,500/m², comes from 1,423 sales of houses and apartments in Dax from July 2023 to June 2026. The split here: €2,443/m² for houses, €2,526/m² for apartments. Advertised rents are estimated at €11.73/m² a month, below Landes’ towns (€13.01/m²) and close to compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
€2,500/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Dax€2,500/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Landes median€3,172/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,443/m²
422
Apartments
€2,526/m²
1,001
€11.73/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€9.18 to €14.99/m² a month)
6.9
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€10.94/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€25,230
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Dax
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
History
10 historic monuments in Dax, the oldest from Antiquity
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Dax is Enceinte gallo-romaine. This Landes town has 4.5 protected monuments per 10,000 residents, about level with compared French towns (2.5) and above Landes’ towns (1.4). Part of the town has been a protected historic area, a site patrimonial remarquable, since 1997. Protection here reaches back to Antiquity.
Fontaine Chaude: Photo: fredpanassac · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ancienne Cathédrale Sainte-Marie (église Notre-Dame): Photo: This illustration was made by Peter Potrowl . · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Temple gallo-romain: Photo: Ghislain118 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hôtel Saint-Martin-d'Agès: Photo: Ad Vitam · CC BY-SA 3.0
Laurent Fressinet: Soboky, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Nicolas Devilder: Dmadeo, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Patrick Edlinger: https://www.editionspaulsen.com/ (éditions Paulsen) produced the media with one of their authors, Jean-Michel Asselin, ( https://www.editionspaulsen.com/brand/10-jean-michel-asselin ), CC BY 3.0 · Raphaël Ibañez: Clément Bucco-Lechat, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Martin Veyron: ActuaLitté, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anne-Marie Escoffier: Ngagnebin, CC BY-SA 3.0
Dax’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 Dax
Is Dax safe?
It grades D− for safety. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 72 burglaries and 392 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Dax good?
They grade B−, better than 53% of compared French towns and #27 of 31 in Landes. 96% of 523 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent de Borda in 2025, a point below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Dax expensive to live in?
Prices are close to the median of compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,500/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so Dax grades C for cost of living.
About Dax
Commune in Landes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Dax is a commune of 22,109 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Dax. 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.
