Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 5,523 residents and lies in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire.
Households here earn well (A−): 0.3 jobs per working resident; 4.5% unemployment. Its weakest is cost of living — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 6.6 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Walkability is weaker too — 45% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 6% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. It skews young: only 14% of residents are 65 or over.
Figures: employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025. Saint-Mars-du-Désert 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.
Each subject compares Saint-Mars-du-Désert 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.
Saint-Mars-du-Désert has no overall grade because safety and schools aren’t graded here.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The 2 things Saint-Mars-du-Désert does most differently from other towns.
The Culture ministry lists no building in Saint-Mars-du-Désert as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Château de la Seilleraye, in Carquefou, 4.2 mi away.
Explore the history →Nothing in Saint-Mars-du-Désert is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Mars-du-Désert.
Nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24, below both Loire-Atlantique’s towns (11%) and compared French towns (11%). Graduates make up just over two in five adults. Ages in Saint-Mars-du-Désert split evenly at 38.1: half are older, half younger.
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Loire-Atlantique 51.0%, France 51.8%.
| Saint-Mars-du-Désert | Loire-Atlantique median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 24% | 19% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.4% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 14% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 9.3% | 14% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 25% | 28% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 42% | 34% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Loire-Atlantique median and France median: the median of compared communes
The census found 6.2% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Half of residents lived on more than €27,990 a year per consumption unit, close to Loire-Atlantique’s towns (€27,630) and above compared French towns (€25,970).
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.
Houses are advertised at an estimated €11.52/m² a month. 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). Among the homes sold, 99% were houses.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,709/m² | 131 |
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 Saint-Mars-du-Désert is Antenne Smur du Chu de Nantes site Ch Ancenis, 11.8 mi away. 226 deaths in the town between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 271: 17% below. After the care-home adjustment, the town’s deaths ran at 83 per 100 expected, about level with Loire-Atlantique’s towns (85) and below compared French towns (88). For a family doctor, residents of Saint-Mars-du-Désert can choose among 3 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 · Note: TownRatings models the care-home adjustment; it is not an official figure. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
On average over 2023–2025, every 1,000 residents saw 2.1 violent offenses and 7.2 graded property crimes a year. Police and gendarmerie recorded 39 offenses in Saint-Mars-du-Désert in 2025. Among the graded crimes locally, the most frequent was criminal damage (2025).
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.
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · When family violence, other physical violence, sexual violence and vehicle theft number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (29.1% of the index here). The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Heritage and other places to visit in and near Saint-Mars-du-Désert. Best known first.
One notable person was born in Saint-Mars-du-Désert.
Paul Lemasson: Madame Lemasson, CC BY-SA 4.0
Commune in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire
Saint-Mars-du-Désert is a commune of 5,523 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Mars-du-Désert | 5,523 | — | — | C+ | — | B |
| Petit-Mars | 3,888 | 3.1 | — | C+ | — | A |
| Ligné | 5,693 | 3.6 | — | C | — | C |
| Le Cellier | 4,051 | 3.8 | B+ | C | A− | B− |
| Mauves-sur-Loire | 3,409 | 3.9 | — | C | — | A |
| Sucé-sur-Erdre | 7,539 | 4.8 | A | C− | A+ | A− |
| Carquefou | 20,921 | 5.4 | B | D | C | A− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Saint-Mars-du-Désert has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 13 burglaries and 16 acts of criminal damage.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Saint-Mars-du-Désert grades C+ for cost of living.
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 9, 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.
