Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2,120 residents make their home in this town in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire.
Vay’s best grade is for cost of living — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 5.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work: 35% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 4% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. The rest of its grades are middling: B for health and C+ for jobs & income. It skews young: only 13% of residents are 65 or over.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025). Vay 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 Vay does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Vay 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.
Vay has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
On the Culture ministry’s list, Vay counts 1 historic monument: 1 classé at the top level of protection and 0 inscrit at the second.
The oldest protected part dates from prehistory; the first monument here was protected in 1928.
22% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Vay.
The median disposable income is €24,970 a year per consumption unit. At the census, 4.2% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below both Loire-Atlantique’s towns (10.3%) and compared French towns (13.4%). 350 jobs are based in Vay, for 1,050 working residents (0.3 per worker). Unemployment stands at 6.0%.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
People 65 and over make up 13% of the town, below both Loire-Atlantique’s towns (19%) and compared French towns (22%). Residents of Vay have a median age of 37.5. The share aged 15 to 24 is 10%.
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire-Atlantique 51.0%, France 51.8%.
| Vay | Loire-Atlantique median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 24% | 19% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 13% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 14% | 14% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 30% | 28% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 29% | 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.
The median price, €1,890/m², comes from 72 sales of houses and apartments in Vay from July 2023 to June 2026. The sales split: 99% houses, the rest apartments.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,910/m² | 71 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Vay is Menhir dit La Pierre qui tourne. Its heritage reaches back to prehistory.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In Loire-Atlantique, life expectancy at birth reaches 86.2 years for women and 80.3 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France. France’s death rates at each age would predict 129 deaths in Vay from 2016 to 2025; there were 110, 15% fewer. After the care-home adjustment, the town’s deaths ran at 85 per 100 expected, in line with Loire-Atlantique’s towns (85) and compared French towns (88).
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 · That adjustment for care homes is a model of TownRatings’ own, not official data. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C to A.
Vay has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Menhir dit La Pierre qui tourne: Photo: Pymouss · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Vay yet.
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
Vay has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 5.4 recorded violent incidents and 7.5 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,890/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Vay grades B+ for cost of living.
Commune in Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire
Vay is a commune of 2,120 people in the Communauté de communes de Nozay. 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.