Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 3,888: a town in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire.
Petit-Mars’s strongest subject is health: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 32% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Walkability is its weak spot — 53% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 6% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Buying in is costly (C+): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 6.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Few residents are of retirement age: 14% are 65 or over.
Figures: deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi. Petit-Mars has no overall grade because safety and schools aren’t graded here.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The 3 things Petit-Mars does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Petit-Mars 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.
Petit-Mars has no overall grade because safety and schools aren’t graded here.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry lists no building in Petit-Mars as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Château du Plessis, in Casson, 5.2 mi away.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Petit-Mars.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In Loire-Atlantique, women can expect to live 86.2 years and men 80.3 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. From 2016 to 2025, 141 residents of Petit-Mars died, against 207 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 32% fewer. Also worth knowing: the nearest emergency department to Petit-Mars is Antenne Smur du Chu de Nantes site Ch Ancenis, 13.3 mi away.
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 · Allowing for care homes is a TownRatings estimate, not a published statistic.
Children under 15 make up 21%, higher than both Loire-Atlantique’s towns (19%) and compared French towns (17%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 12% of the population. Graduates make up 37% of adults.
49% women, 51% men
About 104 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire-Atlantique 51.0%, France 51.8%.
| Petit-Mars | Loire-Atlantique median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 19% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 14% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 11% | 14% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 29% | 28% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 37% | 34% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Loire-Atlantique median and France median: the median of compared communes
For its 1,950 residents in work, Petit-Mars has 450 jobs: 0.2 each. 5.6% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both Loire-Atlantique’s towns (10.3%) and compared French towns (13.4%). Per consumption unit, the median disposable income is €27,740 a year.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The estimated advertised rent is €13.33/m² a month, about level with Loire-Atlantique’s towns (€12.75/m²) and above compared French towns (€12.41/m²). For a house, the estimated advertised rent is €10.85/m² a month. Petit-Mars recorded 81 home sales from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,557/m² | 81 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Heritage and other places to visit in and near Petit-Mars. Best known first.
Nothing in Petit-Mars is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
One notable person was born in Petit-Mars.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petit-Mars | 3,888 | — | — | C+ | — | A |
| Saint-Mars-du-Désert | 5,523 | 3.1 | — | C+ | — | B |
| Les Touches | 2,638 | 3.3 | — | A− | — | D |
| Ligné | 5,693 | 3.4 | — | C | — | C |
| Nort-sur-Erdre | 9,570 | 3.7 | A− | B− | B− | B− |
| Casson | 2,605 | 4.8 | — | C+ | — | A |
| Sucé-sur-Erdre | 7,539 | 5 | A | C− | A+ | A− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Petit-Mars has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 2.9 recorded violent incidents and 5.1 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Petit-Mars grades C+ for cost of living.
Commune in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire
Petit-Mars is a commune of 3,888 people in the Communauté de communes d'Erdre et Gesvres. 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 8, 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.