Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 4,142: a town in Nord, Hauts-de-France.
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. Its strongest subject is schools: bac results a point above the expected rate; brevet results 4.6 points above the expected rate. Homes are affordable (A): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 2.6 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Residents’ health trails most towns (D): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 14% above expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. It lags on jobs & income as well: 1.1 jobs per working resident; 17.7% unemployment. The overall grade lands at B, better than nearly three fifths of compared French towns. In the ranking it comes #32 of 189 in Nord.
Figures: brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · employment, INSEE census 2023.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 2 things Solesmes does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Solesmes 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 Solesmes as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Motte féodale, in Haussy, 2.4 mi away.
20% 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 Solesmes.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
There are 4 general practitioners in Solesmes. Life expectancy at birth in Nord is 84.5 years for women and 78.8 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. From 2016 to 2025, 651 residents of Solesmes died, against 451 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 44% 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 · The care-home step is TownRatings’ own calculation, not an official number.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
94.2% of candidates passed the brevet at the collèges within 5 km of Solesmes, above Nord’s towns (85.9%) and compared French towns (87.5%) alike. Ranked by results, schools here are #5 of 195 in Nord. At the general lycée, 100% of 66 candidates passed the bac, a point above the expected rate.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Saint-Michel PrivateNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 102 | 99%+4 pts |
| Lycée Saint-Michel PrivateNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 66 | 100%+1 pt |
| Collège Antoine de Saint-ExupéryBest against expectations: 5 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 150 | 91%+5 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.
The estimated advertised rent is €9.29/m² a month, lower than both Nord’s towns (€11.81/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Houses made up 98% of the homes sold; apartments the rest. Estimated advertised rent for houses: €7.39/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €896/m² | 186 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Per consumption unit, the median disposable income is €21,470 a year. At the census, 15.0% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, higher than both Nord’s towns (13.0%) and compared French towns (13.4%).
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Police and gendarmerie figures for Solesmes show 126 offenses in 2025. On average over 2023–2025, every 1,000 residents saw 15.5 violent offenses and 12.7 graded property crimes a year. Also worth knowing: more of the graded crimes here 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 burglary, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, 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, 5.9% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
People aged 15 to 24 make up just over a tenth of the town, about level with Nord’s towns (12%) and above compared French towns (11%). The share of residents under 15 is 16%. Over-65s are 23% of the population.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
| Solesmes | Nord median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 12% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 25% | 26% |
| 65+ | 23% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 25% | 23% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 30% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 19% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Nord median and France median: the median of compared communes
Nothing in Solesmes is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
2 notable people were born in Solesmes.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solesmes | 4,142 | — | B | A | C− | D |
| Avesnes-les-Aubert | 3,562 | 5.2 | C+ | B+ | C+ | D |
| Caudry | 13,833 | 5.7 | D | B+ | D− | D− |
| Le Cateau-Cambrésis | 6,764 | 5.9 | D | A− | D− | D |
| Haspres | 2,626 | 6.4 | C− | B+ | B+ | D |
| Le Quesnoy | 4,878 | 7.7 | C− | B+ | D | C |
| Iwuy | 3,403 | 8.5 | C− | A− | C | D− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades C− for safety, #119 of 189 in Nord.
They grade A, better than 93% of compared French towns and #5 of 195 in Nord. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Solesmes grades A for cost of living.
Commune in Nord, Hauts-de-France
Solesmes is a commune of 4,142 people in the Communauté de communes du Pays Solesmois. 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.