Cherbourg-en-Cotentin grades B− overall: better than 46% of compared French towns, and #23 of 27 in Manche. Its weakest subject is health (C−): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 0% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. At the median price of €2,299/m², a 70 m² home costs 6.1 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté d'agglomération du Cotentin. Its strongest is walkability (A): 85% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 25% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
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 Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 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.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.
Work & commuteJobs & income B−
More commuters in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin walk, cycle or take the bus or train than in Manche’s towns or compared French towns: 25.2%
Jobs located in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin: 41,700, for 33,550 residents in work (1.2 each). Unemployment stood at 11.0%, above both Manche’s towns (8.8%) and compared French towns (10.1%). Public transport took nearly a tenth of the town’s working residents to work at the census.
25%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving69%
On foot10%
Public transport8%
Bicycle7%
Motorbike or scooter2%
41,700
jobs based in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, 1.2 per working resident
11.0%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€25,450
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 91% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
HealthHealth C−
Adjusted for age and care homes, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin sees more deaths than 79% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In Manche, women can expect to live 85.5 years and men 79 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. Weighed against its ages and care homes, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin records 100 deaths per 100 expected. From 2016 to 2025, 8,947 residents of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin died, against 7,761 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 15% more.
−0%deaths against expected, after care homesC−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw115
Adjusted100
Median town88
Expected100
64
GPs in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin · 3.4 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
0.7 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier Public du Cotentin
0.7 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier Public du Cotentin
85.5 · 79
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Manche, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin has 36 historic monuments, 12 classé
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is Porte de l'ancienne église abbatiale de Notre-Dame du Voeu. Nearly a tenth of its homes were built before 1919, below Manche’s towns (12%) but above compared French towns (7.4%). Scaled to its population, that is 4.6 protected monuments for every 10,000 people in the town.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HousingCost of living C
The estimated advertised rent in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is €12.61/m² a month, against €9.90/m² in Manche’s towns and €12.41/m² in compared French towns
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Behind the median of €2,299/m²: 2,656 houses and apartments sold in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin between July 2023 and June 2026. Houses sell for €2,319/m² locally, apartments for €2,256/m². Among the homes sold, 66% were houses.
€2,299/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin€2,299/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Manche median€1,814/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,319/m²
1,761
Apartments
€2,256/m²
895
€12.61/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€9.66 to €16.46/m² a month)
6.1
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€10.47/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€26,250
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté d'agglomération du Cotentin
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Schools
90.0% of candidates passed the brevet at the nine collèges within 5 km, 0.7 points below the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Its schools’ results rank #20 of 29 in Manche. Near Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, 93.6% of lycée candidates passed the bac, near both Manche’s towns (94.3%) and compared French towns (92.9%).
97%passed the bac (general and technological)B−School Grade
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Per resident, Cherbourg-en-Cotentin sees less crime than 54% of compared French towns
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin’s tally for 2025: 1,585 recorded offenses. Violence against people ran at 7.8 per 1,000 residents a year and the graded property crimes at 12.8 (2023–2025 average). The commonest graded crime in the town was criminal damage (2025).
7.8recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearB−Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage706
Family violence240
Other physical violence223
Sexual violence151
Theft from vehicles135
Burglary80
Vehicle theft50
Theft without violence490
Fraud361
Drug use232
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.
7.8
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
12.8
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
1,585
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
under 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, 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, under 0.1% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Who lives here
A young town: 12% of people in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin are 15 to 24, more than in Manche’s towns or compared French towns
22% of residents are 65 or over, lower than Manche’s towns (29%) and near compared French towns (22%). Degrees are held by 31% of adults. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin has a median age of 43.6.
43.6median age
Cherbourg-en-CotentinManche medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
12%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma18%
CAP or BEP27%
Baccalauréat18%
Higher education31%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Domaine du château de Tourlaville (également sur commune de La Glacerie): Photo: Julien.scavini · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort de l’île Pelée, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg: Photo: Ikmo-ned · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort de Querqueville, ouvrage constitutif de la rade de Cherbourg: Photo: Thesupermat · CC BY-SA 3.0
Famous people from Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
178 notable people were born in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.
Roland Barthes: Unknown, Public domain · Victor Grignard: Fotograv. - Generalstabens Litografiska Anstalt Stockholm, Public domain · Jean Marais: original: Carl Van Vechten derivative work: …trialsanderrors, Public domain · Georges Sorel: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain · Benoît Cosnefroy: Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Amaël Moinard: jmax, Public domain
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin’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 Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
Is Cherbourg-en-Cotentin safe?
It grades B− for safety, #17 of 27 in Manche. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 80 burglaries and 706 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin good?
They grade B−, better than 54% of compared French towns and #20 of 29 in Manche. 97% of 193 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Victor Grignard in 2025, a point below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Cherbourg-en-Cotentin expensive to live in?
Prices are close to the median of compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,299/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns, so Cherbourg-en-Cotentin grades C for cost of living.
About Cherbourg-en-Cotentin
Commune in Manche, Normandy
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin is a commune of 78,258 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Cotentin. 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
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.
