Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 3,734 people, lies in Nord, Hauts-de-France.
Lourches grades low on several counts. Health outcomes fall short of most towns: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 34% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Buying 70 m² at the median €950/m² takes 3 years of the median income per consumption unit in the Communauté d'agglomération de la Porte du Hainaut. Its strongest subject is walkability: just over three quarters of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 15% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. All told, that adds up to a D− overall, better than 4% of compared French towns. In the ranking it comes #173 of 189 in Nord. Incomes are on the low side (D−): 0.7 jobs per working resident; 25.4% unemployment. Crime is the sore point: an average of 10.7 recorded violent incidents and 24.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior).
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 3 things Lourches does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Lourches 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 1 historic monument in Lourches, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 19th century; the first monument here was protected in 2009.
Wikidata records 2 people born in Lourches before 1900, the earliest Arthur Lamendin, in 1852.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Lourches.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In Nord, life expectancy at birth reaches 84.5 years for women and 78.8 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France. From 2016 to 2025, 510 residents of Lourches died, against 263 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 94% more. Also worth knowing: 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 · Care-home places are adjusted for by TownRatings, using a model rather than an official statistic.
114 offenses were reported in Lourches during 2025. More of the graded crimes locally were criminal damage than anything else (2025).
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.
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · For sexual violence and 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, 2.4% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Of those in the labour force, 25.4% are unemployed. At the census, 15.4% of commuters got to work without a car.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
At the lycées within 5 km of Lourches, 85.4% passed the bac, below both Nord’s towns (90.4%) and compared French towns (92.9%). School results put the town #178 of 195 in Nord.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège VoltaireNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 79 | 67%−8 pts |
| Lycée Jules MousseronNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 204 | 92%+1 pt |
| 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
Children under 15 count for nearly a quarter of the people here. 15% of residents have reached 65. Those aged 15 to 24 account for 15% of residents.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
| Lourches | Nord median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 23% | 19% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 15% | 12% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 25% | 26% |
| 65+ | 15% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 31% | 23% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 32% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 12% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Nord median and France median: the median of compared communes
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Advertised rents are estimated at €10.20/m² a month, below both Nord’s towns (€11.81/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). A home here costs 3 years of the median income in Communauté d'agglomération de la Porte du Hainaut. House rents are put at about €8.40/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €950/m² | 96 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The earliest of these monuments dates from the 19th century. Homes built before 1919 account for 7.5% of the housing.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Museums, heritage and family days out in and near Lourches. Best known first.
Lourches has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Monument à Charles Mathieu: Photo: Jérémy-Günther-Heinz Jähnick · CC BY-SA 3.0
6 notable people were born in Lourches.
Arthur Lamendin: Agence de presse Meurisse, Public domain
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lourches | 3,734 | — | D− | B+ | D | D− |
| Rœulx | 3,743 | 1 | C | B | A− | D− |
| Neuville-sur-Escaut | 2,901 | 1.1 | C− | B− | B+ | D |
| Escaudain | 9,039 | 1.5 | D | B | C− | D− |
| Denain | 20,665 | 1.8 | D− | B+ | D− | D− |
| Douchy-les-Mines | 10,109 | 1.8 | D− | B− | C | D− |
| Bouchain | 4,113 | 2.8 | D | C+ | B | D |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades D for safety, #157 of 189 in Nord. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 6 burglaries and 56 acts of criminal damage.
They grade D, better than 14% of compared French towns and #178 of 195 in Nord. The lycée stands out: 92% of 204 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Jules Mousseron in 2025, a point above the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Lourches grades B+ for cost of living.
Commune in Nord, Hauts-de-France
Lourches is a commune of 3,734 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 November 4, 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.