Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,907 in Nord, Hauts-de-France.
Hélesmes has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is health (D): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 13% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The one thing Hélesmes does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Hélesmes 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 lists no building in Hélesmes as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Ancien site minier de Wallers-Arenberg, in Wallers, 3.2 mi away.
14% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hélesmes.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
For a family doctor, residents of Hélesmes can choose among 2 GPs. In Nord, women can expect to live 84.5 years and men 78.8 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. From 2016 to 2025, 147 residents of Hélesmes died, against 130 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 13% more.
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.
The jobless rate is 9.6%. Jobs located in Hélesmes: 300, for 850 residents in work (0.4 each). Half of residents lived on more than €25,510 a year per consumption unit, higher than Nord’s towns (€23,900) and near compared French towns (€25,970).
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
17% of residents are 65 or over, below both Nord’s towns (19%) and compared French towns (22%). Ages in Hélesmes split evenly at 39.9: half are older, half younger. The 15-to-24 age group makes up just over one in ten residents.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
| Hélesmes | Nord median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 26% |
| 65+ | 17% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 19% | 23% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 21% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 28% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Nord median and France median: the median of compared communes
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The closest lycée for the general bac is 3.4 mi off. The town’s pupils have a collège 1.9 mi away.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Jean MoulinNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 114 | 75%−4 pts |
| Collège Félicien JolyBest against expectations: 16 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 99 | 87%+16 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
A home here costs 4.9 years of the median income in Communauté d'agglomération de la Porte du Hainaut. Renting a house costs an estimated €9.08/m² a month. Between July 2023 and June 2026, buyers took 63 homes in Hélesmes.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,527/m² | 63 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Nothing in Hélesmes is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Hélesmes yet.
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
Hélesmes has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 4.4 recorded violent incidents and 7.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
They grade C, better than 31% of compared French towns. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €11.92/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Hélesmes grades C+ for cost of living.
Commune in Nord, Hauts-de-France
Hélesmes is a commune of 1,907 people in the Communauté d'agglomération de la Porte du Hainaut. 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 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.