Bouaye does the important things well, at a cost. Its best grade is for health (A−): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 26% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Taken together, its subjects give Bouaye a B+ overall, better than 71% of compared French towns. That places it #34 of 93 in Loire-Atlantique. Work and incomes are strong: 0.7 jobs per working resident; 7.3% unemployment. The catch is cost of living — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 7.8 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for safety, B for schools and B− for walkability.
Figures: deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · 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.
Each subject compares Bouaye 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 Bouaye.
HealthHealth A−
Bouaye loses fewer people than its age profile suggests, 74 per 100 expected, below Loire-Atlantique’s towns and compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
The nearest emergency department to Bouaye is L Hopital Prive du Confluent, 7 mi away. From 2016 to 2025, 471 residents of Bouaye died, against 531 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 11% fewer. In Loire-Atlantique, women can expect to live 86.2 years and men 80.3 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. 9 GPs practise locally.
−26%deaths against expected, after care homesA−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw89
Adjusted74
Median town88
Expected100
9
GPs in Bouaye · 3.5 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
7 mi
to the nearest emergency department, L Hopital Prive du Confluent
6.4 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Sante Atlantique
86.2 · 80.3
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Loire-Atlantique, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Homes in Bouaye cost more than in Loire-Atlantique’s towns and across compared French towns, with a median sale of €3,084/m²
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
In Bouaye, houses go for €3,027/m² and apartments for €3,236/m². Renting a house costs an estimated €11.88/m² a month. Houses accounted for 76% of sales, apartments for the rest.
€3,084/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Bouaye€3,084/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Loire-Atlantique median€2,844/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€3,027/m²
174
Apartments
€3,236/m²
56
€13.25/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€11.24 to €15.62/m² a month)
7.8
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€11.88/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€27,840
median annual income per consumption unit, Nantes Métropole
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
A town of families: 21% of people in Bouaye are under 15, more than in Loire-Atlantique’s towns and across compared French towns
Retirement age and beyond: 17% of residents are 65 or older. 39% of adults hold a degree, higher than both Loire-Atlantique’s towns (34%) and compared French towns (30%). The median resident of Bouaye is 40.1 years old.
40.1median age
BouayeLoire-Atlantique medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
10%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma11%
CAP or BEP26%
Baccalauréat19%
Higher education39%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire-Atlantique 51.0%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Loire-Atlantique median and France median: the median of compared communes
Schools
92.2% of candidates passed the brevet at the four collèges within 5 km, 0.8 points below the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Near Bouaye, 94.3% of lycée candidates passed the bac, lower than Loire-Atlantique’s towns (95.7%) yet higher than compared French towns (92.9%). By results, schools here place #53 of 83 in Loire-Atlantique.
98%passed the bac (general and technological)BSchool Grade
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Safety
Bouaye has more crime per resident than 54% of compared French towns
The commonest graded crime in Bouaye was criminal damage (2025). The town’s tally for 2025: 218 recorded offenses. Per 1,000 residents a year, there were 6.8 cases of violence against people and 15.5 graded property crimes (2023–2025 average).
6.8recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearB−Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage71
Family violence31
Theft from vehicles30
Burglary26
Other physical violence21
Sexual violence20
Vehicle theft19
Fraud69
Theft without violence49
Drug use10
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.
6.8
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
15.5
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
218
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
0.4%
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, 0.4% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Work & commuteJobs & income A−
Bouaye gets an A− for jobs & income
The median disposable income was €28,660 a year per consumption unit, about level with Loire-Atlantique’s towns (€27,630) and above compared French towns (€25,970). At the census, a tenth of working residents in Bouaye went to work by public transport. The jobless rate is 7.3%.
13%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving80%
Public transport10%
Motorbike or scooter2%
Bicycle2%
On foot2%
2,500
jobs based in Bouaye, 0.7 per working resident
7.3%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€28,660
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
4%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
B−
Walkability: better than 52% of compared French towns
Jean-Marc Guillou: Original: Organizing committee of Argentina 1978 World Cup - Argentine Football Association and FIFA / Derivative work: Danyele, Public domain · Joseph Beilvert: Gillardeau, Public domain
Bouaye’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 Bouaye
Is Bouaye safe?
It grades B− for safety, #54 of 93 in Loire-Atlantique. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 26 burglaries and 71 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Bouaye good?
They grade B, better than 63% of compared French towns and #53 of 83 in Loire-Atlantique. 98% of 358 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Alcide d'Orbigny in 2025, at the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Bouaye expensive to live in?
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €13.25/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Bouaye grades C− for cost of living.
About Bouaye
Commune in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire
Bouaye is a commune of 8,343 people in the Nantes Métropole. 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.
