Schools do well: brevet results 4.9 points above the expected rate. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 4.1 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. The rest of its grades are middling: B for health, C+ for jobs & income and B− for walkability. Homes change hands at a median €1,606/m².
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 and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025. Pontacq has no overall grade because safety isn’t graded here.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
Each subject compares Pontacq 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 Pontacq.
Schools
Exam results around Pontacq beat 97% of compared French towns
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The town’s schools place #1 of 40 in Pyrénées-Atlantiques on results. 98.2% of candidates passed the brevet at the collèges within 5 km of Pontacq, above both Pyrénées-Atlantiques’ towns (95.0%) and compared French towns (87.5%). The nearest general lycée is 7.1 mi away.
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
HousingCost of living A
Estimated advertised rents run lower in Pontacq than in Pyrénées-Atlantiques’ towns or across compared French towns: €10.06/m² a month
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Houses were 91% of what sold. That is the middle of 70 sales of houses and apartments in Pontacq from July 2023 to June 2026, against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns and €2,784/m² for the median of compared towns in Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
€1,606/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Pontacq€1,606/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Pyrénées-Atlantiques median€2,784/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,605/m²
64
€10.06/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€8.12 to €12.47/m² a month)
4.1
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€9.60/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€27,710
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes du Nord Est Béarn
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Fewer people in Pontacq hold a degree than in Pyrénées-Atlantiques’ towns or compared French towns: 24%
30% of residents have reached 65. People aged 15 to 24 make up nearly a tenth of the town, near Pyrénées-Atlantiques’ towns (9.3%) and lower than compared French towns (11%). Children are 16% of the town.
49.3median age
PontacqPyrénées-Atlantiques medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
30%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma20%
CAP or BEP30%
Baccalauréat18%
Higher education24%
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pyrénées-Atlantiques 52.5%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
INSEE, census 2023 · Pyrénées-Atlantiques median and France median: the median of compared communes
History
Pontacq keeps more of its old housing than Pyrénées-Atlantiques’ towns or compared French towns: 17% built before 1919
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry’s list holds 2 historic monuments in Pontacq; none is classé, France’s top protection. Protection here reaches back to the 14th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HealthHealth B
Pontacq’s death rate, adjusted for age and care homes, is lower than in 60% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
For a family doctor, residents of Pontacq can choose among 6 GPs. Its two care homes for older people (170 places) count their residents as Pontacq’s; allowing for them, deaths were 15% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 417 deaths locally from 2016 to 2025; there were 519, 25% more. The nearest emergency department to Pontacq is Centre hospitalier Tarbes Lourdes site Lourdes, 7 mi away.
−15%deaths against expected, after care homesBHealth Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw125
Adjusted85
Median town88
Expected100
6
GPs in Pontacq · 3.1 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
7 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier Tarbes Lourdes site Lourdes
10 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Polyclinique de L Ormeau site centre
86.4 · 81.3
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Walking, cycling and public transport carry fewer commuters in Pontacq than in Pyrénées-Atlantiques’ towns or compared French towns: 6.4%
Per resident in work, Pontacq counts 0.7 jobs (750 jobs, 1,150 workers). 8.8% of the labour force were unemployed, near Pyrénées-Atlantiques’ towns (9.1%) and lower than compared French towns (10.1%). The typical income here, after tax and benefits, is €25,410 a year per consumption unit.
6%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving87%
On foot3%
Bicycle2%
Public transport1%
Motorbike or scooter1%
750
jobs based in Pontacq, 0.7 per working resident
8.8%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€25,410
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
6%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
B−
Walkability: better than 47% of compared French towns
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Pontacq
Is Pontacq safe?
Pontacq has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 1.5 recorded violent incidents and 2.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Are schools in Pontacq good?
They grade A+, better than 97% of compared French towns and #1 of 40 in Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Pontacq expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Pontacq grades A for cost of living.
About Pontacq
Commune in Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Pontacq is a commune of 2,925 people in the Communauté de communes du Nord Est Béarn. 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.
