Fewer journeys need a car: 92% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 17% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Cholet grades B− overall, better than 53% of compared French towns. In the ranking it comes #44 of 52 in Maine-et-Loire. The weak point is safety — an average of 10.1 recorded violent incidents and 18.1 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Homes sell for a median €2,087/m²: 70 m² comes to 5.8 years of the median income per consumption unit in the Communauté d'agglomération Cholet Agglomération. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for schools and B− for jobs & income.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
Each subject compares Cholet 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.
Menhir de la Garde ou Pierre à l'huile: Photo: Liberliger · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tour dite du Grenier à sel: Photo: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Église Notre-Dame: Photo: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cholet.
Work & commuteJobs & income B−
A walkable place: Cholet beats 87% of compared French towns on foot
17%walk, cycle or take transit
For its 22,300 residents in work, Cholet has 38,300 jobs: 1.7 each. 17.2% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, above Maine-et-Loire’s towns (8.1%) and compared French towns (13.4%) alike. Also worth knowing: of those in the labour force, 12.2% are unemployed.
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving78%
On foot7%
Public transport6%
Bicycle4%
Motorbike or scooter2%
38,300
jobs based in Cholet, 1.7 per working resident
12.2%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€25,020
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
3%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A
Walkability: better than 87% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth A−
Cholet has a lower adjusted death rate than 79% of compared French towns
−23%deaths against expected, after care homesA−Health Grade
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
At birth, a girl in Maine-et-Loire can expect 86.4 years and a boy 81.1 (2025); across France, 85.9 and 80.3. Weighed against its ages and care homes, Cholet records 77 deaths per 100 expected. From 2016 to 2025, 4,859 residents of Cholet died, against 5,677 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 14% fewer.
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw86
Adjusted77
Median town88
Expected100
34
GPs in Cholet · 3.8 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
1.2 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier de Cholet
1.2 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier de Cholet
86.4 · 81.1
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Maine-et-Loire, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
For crime per resident, Cholet sits above 76% of compared French towns
10.1recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearC−Safety Grade
Cholet comes 50th of the 52 compared towns in Maine-et-Loire on the Safety Grade. For 2025, the figures show 1,469 offenses locally. More of the graded crimes here were criminal damage than anything else (2025).
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage495
Family violence272
Sexual violence194
Other physical violence179
Theft from vehicles136
Burglary122
Vehicle theft71
Fraud353
Theft without violence345
Drug use113
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.
10.1
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
18.1
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
1,469
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
0.1%
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 armed robbery, this figure isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the index uses the département’s average instead, 0.1% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
History
Cholet has 5 historic monuments, the oldest from prehistory
5historic monuments
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Homes from before 1919 make up 6.5% of the total, below Maine-et-Loire’s towns (17%) and compared French towns (7.4%) alike. A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) has covered part of the town since 2005. Cholet has 0.9 protected monuments for every 10,000 residents. Among the classé monuments locally is Église du Sacré-Coeur.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HousingCost of living C+
Cholet is graded a C+ for cost of living
€2,087/m²median sale price
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The split in Cholet: €2,110/m² for houses, €2,000/m² for apartments. The median price, €2,087/m², comes from 2,068 sales of houses and apartments locally from July 2023 to June 2026. Houses are advertised at an estimated €9.85/m² a month.
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Cholet€2,087/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Maine-et-Loire median€1,930/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,110/m²
1,370
Apartments
€2,000/m²
698
€11.73/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€9.28 to €14.82/m² a month)
5.8
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€9.85/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€25,390
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté d'agglomération Cholet Agglomération
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Schools
88.7% of candidates passed the brevet at the eight collèges within 5 km, at the expected rate
96%passed the bac (general and technological)B−School Grade
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The town’s schools place #30 of 50 in Maine-et-Loire on results. Near Cholet, 93.0% of lycée candidates passed the bac, about level with both Maine-et-Loire’s towns (94.0%) and compared French towns (92.9%). At the four general lycées, 96% of 805 candidates passed the bac, 1.6 points below the expected rate.
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Students and young workers shape Cholet: 13% are 15 to 24, above Maine-et-Loire’s towns and compared French towns
43.7median age
Children under 15 make up 17%, lower than Maine-et-Loire’s towns (18%) and near compared French towns (17%). Residents of Cholet have a median age of 43.7. 29% of adults who have left education hold a higher-education diploma (Maine-et-Loire 29%, France 30%).
CholetMaine-et-Loire medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
13%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma24%
CAP or BEP25%
Baccalauréat17%
Higher education29%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Maine-et-Loire 50.9%, France 51.8%.
Bruno Retailleau: Anthonymontardyfr, CC BY 4.0 · Simon Pouplin: Peter Kulpe, CC BY 3.0 · Jean-Claude Suaudeau: Panini Group, Public domain · François Morellet: Pantalaskas, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jean Jullien: artiste: Jean Jullien - photograph: Manou Milon, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Valérie Garnier: Zafer, CC BY 4.0
About Cholet
Commune in Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire
Cholet is a commune of 54,404 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Cholet Agglomération. 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
54,404 (INSEE, census 2023)
Intercommunality
Communauté d'agglomération Cholet Agglomération
Département
Maine-et-Loire (49)
Région
Pays de la Loire
Area
33.7 sq mi (87.3 km²)
INSEE code
49099
Cholet’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 Cholet
Is Cholet safe?
It grades C− for safety, #50 of 52 in Maine-et-Loire. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 122 burglaries and 495 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Cholet good?
They grade B−, better than 46% of compared French towns and #30 of 50 in Maine-et-Loire. 99% of 276 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Sainte-Marie in 2025, at the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Cholet expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,087/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Estimated advertised apartment rents are €11.73/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Cholet grades C+ 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.
