Bellegarde-en-Forez’s best grade is for cost of living (A−) — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 5.5 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Jobs and pay hold up well: 0.4 jobs per working resident; 5.2% unemployment. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work: nearly three in five residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 6% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025. Bellegarde-en-Forez 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.
Each subject compares Bellegarde-en-Forez 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.
Maison dite de Javogues: Photo: Sebleouf · CC BY-SA 4.0
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bellegarde-en-Forez.
HousingCost of living A−
Renting in Bellegarde-en-Forez costs less than in Loire’s towns or compared French towns, at an estimated advertised €8.68/m² a month
€2,064/m²median sale price
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Behind the median of €2,064/m²: 44 houses and apartments sold in Bellegarde-en-Forez between July 2023 and June 2026. Houses accounted for 93% of sales, apartments for the rest.
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Bellegarde-en-Forez€2,064/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Loire median€2,075/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,121/m²
41
€8.68/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€6.79 to €11.08/m² a month)
5.5
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€9.25/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€26,300
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes de Forez-Est
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Work & commuteJobs & income B+
Bellegarde-en-Forez has lower unemployment than Loire’s towns or compared French towns: 5.2%
6%walk, cycle or take transit
5.6% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below Loire’s towns (11.9%) and compared French towns (13.4%) alike. Median disposable income comes to €26,850 a year per consumption unit. Also worth knowing: at the census, 3.7% of working residents in Bellegarde-en-Forez didn’t travel to work at all.
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving89%
Public transport3%
On foot2%
Motorbike or scooter1%
Bicycle1%
350
jobs based in Bellegarde-en-Forez, 0.4 per working resident
5.2%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€26,850
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
4%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
C+
Walkability: better than 36% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth B
Allowing for age and care homes, deaths in Bellegarde-en-Forez run lower than in 61% of compared French towns
−16%deaths against expected, after care homesBHealth Grade
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
There is one general practitioner in Bellegarde-en-Forez. Its care home for older people (100 places) counts its residents as Bellegarde-en-Forez’s; allowing for it, deaths were 16% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 270 deaths in the town from 2016 to 2025; there were 325, 20% more. The nearest emergency department to Bellegarde-en-Forez is Hopital Nord Chu de Saint Etienne, 11.7 mi away.
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw120
Adjusted84
Median town88
Expected100
1
GPs in Bellegarde-en-Forez · 3.5 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
11.7 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Hopital Nord Chu de Saint Etienne
12.4 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Hopital Nord Chu de Saint Etienne
85.6 · 80.8
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Loire, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Old homes shape Bellegarde-en-Forez: 17% were built before 1919, more than in Loire’s towns or compared French towns
2historic monuments
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry lists 2 historic monuments in Bellegarde-en-Forez, none of them classé, France’s highest protection. Its oldest listed monument dates from the 15th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Who lives here
A town of families: 20% of people in Bellegarde-en-Forez are under 15, more than in Loire’s towns or compared French towns
42.3median age
Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over, about level with compared French towns (22%) and below Loire’s towns (25%). Ages in Bellegarde-en-Forez split evenly at 42.3: half are older, half younger. Graduates make up 28% of adults.
Bellegarde-en-ForezLoire medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
11%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma22%
CAP or BEP27%
Baccalauréat19%
Higher education28%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About an even split. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Loire median and France median: the median of compared communes
Safety
Bellegarde-en-Forez has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average
3.9recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year
Among the graded crimes in Bellegarde-en-Forez, the most frequent was burglary (2025). 2025 saw 18 offenses recorded in the town. Per 1,000 residents a year, there were 3.9 cases of violence against people and 8.5 graded property crimes (2023–2025 average).
Recorded by type · 2025
Burglary12
Criminal damage6
Armed robbery0
Fraud9
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.
3.9
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
8.5
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
18
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
40.2%
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 family violence, other physical violence, sexual violence, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, 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, 40.2% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Bellegarde-en-Forez is a commune of 2,019 people in the Communauté de communes de Forez-Est. 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
Population
2,019 (INSEE, census 2023)
Intercommunality
Communauté de communes de Forez-Est
Département
Loire (42)
Région
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Area
7.4 sq mi (19.1 km²)
INSEE code
42013
Bellegarde-en-Forez’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 Bellegarde-en-Forez
Is Bellegarde-en-Forez safe?
Bellegarde-en-Forez has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 12 burglaries and 6 acts of criminal damage.
Is Bellegarde-en-Forez expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,064/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Bellegarde-en-Forez grades A− for cost of living.
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.
