Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,564 in Nord, Hauts-de-France.
Watten grades B+ overall: better than 65% of compared French towns, and #25 of 189 in Nord. Its weakest subject is jobs & income (D−): 0.6 jobs per working resident; 14.5% unemployment. Its strongest is cost of living (A−): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.9 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality.
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 Watten does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Watten 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 4 historic monuments in Watten: 2 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 2 inscrit (the second level).
The oldest protected part dates from the 10th century; the first monument here was protected in 1909.
Heritage and museums in and near Watten. Best known first.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Watten.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Adjusted for age and care homes, Watten records 106 deaths per 100 expected, close to Nord’s towns (105) and above compared French towns (88). From 2016 to 2025, 372 residents of Watten died, against 265 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 40% more. The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic.
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
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
For Watten, that is below both Nord’s towns (€11.81/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). The median price, €1,464/m², comes from 87 sales of houses and apartments in Watten from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,464/m² | 87 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Police and gendarmerie recorded 39 offenses in the graded categories in Watten in 2025. Violence against people ran at 6.8 per 1,000 residents a year and the graded property crimes at 9.3 (2023–2025 average). For burglary, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, 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, 21.7% of the index here. Because that share is over 10%, this Safety Grade is less sure than most.
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
Watten sits below both Nord’s towns (€23,900) and compared French towns (€25,970) on this measure. Unemployment stands at 14.5%.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry lists 4 historic monuments in Watten: 2 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 2 inscrit (the second level).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Schools rank #89 of 195 in Nord.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Sacré-Coeur PrivateNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 47 | 87%+1 pt |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
That puts Watten below both Nord’s towns (26%) and compared French towns (30%). Over-65s are 23% of the population.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nord 51.9%, France 51.8%.
| Watten | Nord median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 25% | 26% |
| 65+ | 23% | 19% | 22% |
| No diploma | 31% | 23% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 29% | 26% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| Higher education | 16% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Nord median and France median: the median of compared communes
The Culture ministry lists 4 historic monuments in Watten: 2 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 2 inscrit (the second level).
Église Saint-Gilles: Photo: Bastien.pierre · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Moulin à vent dit Moulin de la Montagne: Photo: JackyM59 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata places 2 people here, but for none of them do the articles confirm Watten as the birthplace, so nobody is listed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watten | 2,564 | — | B+ | A− | A− | D |
| Éperlecques Pas-de-Calais | 3,737 | 2.4 | — | B− | — | D− |
| Saint-Martin-lez-Tatinghem Pas-de-Calais | 5,843 | 5.5 | A− | C+ | A− | C+ |
| Saint-Omer Pas-de-Calais | 14,382 | 5.7 | C− | B− | D− | D |
| Longuenesse Pas-de-Calais | 10,548 | 6.7 | C− | C+ | D | D |
| Audruicq Pas-de-Calais | 5,309 | 6.8 | B | B+ | B | D |
| Arques Pas-de-Calais | 9,431 | 7.6 | C− | B− | C− | D− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades A− for safety, #27 of 189 in Nord.
They grade B, better than 59% of compared French towns and #89 of 195 in Nord. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,464/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Watten grades A− for cost of living.
Commune in Nord, Hauts-de-France
Watten is a commune of 2,564 people in the Communauté de communes des Hauts de Flandre. 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.
