Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 1,321 residents in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire.
Households here earn well (A−): 0.8 jobs per working resident; 9.8% unemployment. Where it falls short is cost of living: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 12.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Second homes make up 66% of its housing. It skews older: 50% of residents are 65 or over.
Figures: employment, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi. Préfailles 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 3 things Préfailles does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Préfailles 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.
Préfailles 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 Préfailles as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Dolmen sous tumulus, in Pornic, 4.9 mi away.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Préfailles.
People 65 and over make up half of the town, higher than both Loire-Atlantique’s towns (19%) and compared French towns (22%). Children under 15 count for 7.4% of the people here. Graduates make up 39% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire-Atlantique 51.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Préfailles | Loire-Atlantique median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 7.4% | 19% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 4.7% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 9.7% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 50% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 12% | 14% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 25% | 28% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 39% | 34% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Loire-Atlantique median and France median: the median of compared communes
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Among the homes sold, 85% were houses. Houses are advertised at an estimated €11.90/m² a month. Préfailles recorded 136 home sales from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €5,000/m² | 115 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
At the census, 15.7% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, higher than both Loire-Atlantique’s towns (10.3%) and compared French towns (13.4%). Unemployment runs at 9.8%.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
212 deaths in Préfailles between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 219: 3% below. Its care home for older people (30 places) counts its residents as Préfailles’; allowing for it, deaths were 16% below expected. The nearest emergency department to Préfailles is Centre hospitalier de Saint Nazaire, 9.6 mi away. One GP practises in the town.
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 figures behind this are our own model (TownRatings), not official statistics. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Museums and family days out in and near Préfailles. Best known first.
Nothing in Préfailles is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
One notable person was born in Préfailles.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Préfailles | 1,321 | — | — | C− | — | B |
| La Plaine-sur-Mer | 4,760 | 1.7 | D− | C− | C+ | C− |
| Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef | 5,714 | 4.4 | D | D | C | C+ |
| Pornic | 18,745 | 6 | C | D | C+ | B− |
| Saint-Brevin-les-Pins | 14,541 | 8.1 | C | D | C | C |
| Noirmoutier-en-l'Île Vendée | 4,505 | 8.4 | D− | D− | C | D |
| La Bernerie-en-Retz | 3,536 | 9.1 | C | C− | B− | C+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Préfailles has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 8.6 recorded violent incidents and 19.1 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €12.74/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Préfailles grades C− for cost of living.
Commune in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire
Préfailles is a commune of 1,321 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Pornic Agglo Pays de Retz. 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.