Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,218 in Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. 29% of residents are 65 or over.
Violay has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its strongest is cost of living (A+): A year’s estimated rent on a 70 m² apartment is 26% of the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The one thing Violay does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Violay 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.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry’s list holds 1 historic monument in Violay; none is classé, France’s top protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 18th century; the first monument here was protected in 1994.
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 Violay.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
From July 2023 to June 2026, 29 homes were sold in Violay.
Source: Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Degrees are held by 23% of adults, lower than both Loire’s towns (28%) and compared French towns (30%). Over-65s are 29% of the population. Line up the people of Violay by age and the one in the middle is 51.7.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
| Violay | Loire median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 6.5% | 11% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 22% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 29% | 25% | 22% |
| No diploma | 27% | 20% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 25% | 29% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 23% | 28% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Loire median and France median: the median of compared communes
Per resident in work, Violay counts 0.8 jobs (450 jobs, 550 workers). Bus, tram or train carried 4.0% of working residents in Violay to work at the census.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry’s list holds 1 historic monument in Violay; none is classé, France’s top protection. The earliest of these monuments dates from the 18th century.
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.
Its care home for older people (55 places) counts its residents as Violay’s; allowing for it, deaths were 15% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 188 deaths here from 2016 to 2025; there were 219, 17% more. In Loire, life expectancy at birth reaches 85.6 years for women and 80.8 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France. 3 GPs practise 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 · 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−.
Museums, other places to visit and heritage in and near Violay. Best known first.
Violay has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Ferme, au hameau Cherblanc: Photo: Patrick gazel · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Violay yet.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violay | 1,218 | — | — | A+ | — | B |
| Panissières | 2,911 | 4.2 | — | A+ | — | B+ |
| Tarare Rhône | 10,893 | 5 | B+ | B+ | C | B+ |
| Vindry-sur-Turdine Rhône | 5,305 | 7.1 | A | C | B+ | A− |
| Balbigny | 2,911 | 8.1 | B | B | A | C+ |
| Amplepuis Rhône | 4,876 | 8.3 | A− | A | C | B− |
| Feurs | 8,367 | 9.9 | A− | B+ | B− | C+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Violay has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 4.8 recorded violent incidents and 5.8 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Commune in Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Violay is a commune of 1,218 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
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, employment, commuting) · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (income per consumption unit, poverty) · 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 October 30, 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.