Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 1,775 residents, it is a town in Landes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Pontenx-les-Forges’s strongest subject is health: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 21% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Jobs & income is its weak spot — 0.5 jobs per working resident; 11.4% unemployment. Buying in is costly: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 7.9 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Holiday and other second homes account for 13% of homes.
Figures: deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · employment, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi. Pontenx-les-Forges has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The one thing Pontenx-les-Forges does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Pontenx-les-Forges 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.
Pontenx-les-Forges has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry lists no building in Pontenx-les-Forges as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Ancienne église prieurale, in Mimizan, 6.3 mi away.
13% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Pontenx-les-Forges.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Houses are advertised at an estimated €11.55/m² a month. Sales in Pontenx-les-Forges from July 2023 to June 2026: 52 houses and apartments. The estimated advertised rent is €12.20/m² a month, lower than Landes’ towns (€13.01/m²) and near compared French towns (€12.41/m²).
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,949/m² | 46 |
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.
The nearest emergency department to Pontenx-les-Forges is Ch Mont de Marsan Antenne Smur de Labouheyre, 9.9 mi away. From 2016 to 2025, 127 residents of Pontenx-les-Forges died, against 161 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 21% fewer. Life expectancy in Landes: 85.5 years for women and 80.3 for men (2025); France averages 85.9 and 80.3. For a family doctor, residents of Pontenx-les-Forges can choose among 5 GPs.
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 · TownRatings makes the care-home adjustment itself; it is a model, not an official statistic. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C+ to A.
26% of residents are 65 or over. Half the people of Pontenx-les-Forges are older than 49.8. Children under 15 make up 16%, about level with Landes’ towns (15%) and below compared French towns (17%).
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Landes 51.9%, France 51.8%.
| Pontenx-les-Forges | Landes median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 7.1% | 8.9% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 26% | 28% | 22% |
| No diploma | 18% | 16% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 31% | 27% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| Higher education | 26% | 28% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Landes median and France median: the median of compared communes
7.6% of commuters left the car at home at the census, walking, cycling or taking public transport. Half of residents lived on more than €24,680 a year per consumption unit, about level with Landes’ towns (€25,750) and below compared French towns (€25,970). The unemployment rate comes to 11.4%.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Nothing in Pontenx-les-Forges is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Wikidata places 2 people here, but for none of them do the articles confirm Pontenx-les-Forges as the birthplace, so nobody is listed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontenx-les-Forges | 1,775 | — | — | C− | — | A− |
| Mimizan | 7,673 | 6.7 | C− | D | C− | B− |
| Parentis-en-Born | 7,586 | 8.1 | C− | C− | B+ | D |
| Labouheyre | 2,906 | 10 | B− | C+ | B− | C |
| Biscarrosse | 15,836 | 12 | C+ | D | C+ | B |
| Sanguinet | 4,741 | 17 | B | D | A | B |
| Morcenx-la-Nouvelle | 5,022 | 18 | C | B− | B− | D |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Pontenx-les-Forges has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 3 recorded violent incidents and 3.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so Pontenx-les-Forges grades C− for cost of living.
Commune in Landes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Pontenx-les-Forges is a commune of 1,775 people in the Communauté de communes de Mimizan. 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.