Several subjects drag its grade down. Its weakest is jobs & income: 0.4 jobs per working resident; 15.7% unemployment. With a D− overall, Salses-le-Château is better than 3% of compared French towns. It ranks #37 of 43 in Pyrénées-Orientales. Walkability is its strong suit — 85% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 7% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. A 70 m² home at the median €2,017/m² costs 6.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the Communauté de communes Corbières Salanque Méditerranée.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting and employment, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
Each subject compares Salses-le-Château 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.
SchoolsNot graded: no collège with published results within 5 km–
Hazard riskNot graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas–
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Château ou forteresse de Salses · Classé · Photo: Albert Sarola Juanola · CC BY-SA 3.0
Salses-le-Château’s story
Salses-le-Château in pictures
The Culture ministry lists 5 historic monuments in Salses-le-Château: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 4 inscrit (the second level).
That’s 13 for every 10,000 residents, more per resident than 89% of compared French towns; the median compared French town has 2.5.
The oldest protected part dates from the 15th century; the first monument here was protected in 1886.
Joan Badóa, born in 1870, is the one person born in Salses-le-Château before 1900 that Wikidata records.
1886First protected: Château ou forteresse de Salses
2023Most recently protected: Maison de Claude Simon
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Salses-le-Château.
History
Salses-le-Château is rich in protected monuments: 13 per 10,000 residents, more than in Pyrénées-Orientales’ towns and across compared French towns
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
3 of the 5 are houses and mansions. Among the classé monuments in Salses-le-Château is Château ou forteresse de Salses. Protection here reaches back to the 15th century. The Culture ministry lists 5 historic monuments here: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 4 inscrit (the second level).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HealthHealth C−
Salses-le-Château’s death rate, adjusted for age and care homes, is higher than in 81% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
At birth, a girl in Pyrénées-Orientales can expect 85.5 years and a boy 78.9 (2025); across France, 85.9 and 80.3. Weighed against its ages and care homes, Salses-le-Château records 101 deaths per 100 expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 424 deaths here from 2016 to 2025; there were 528, 25% more. The nearest emergency department to Salses-le-Château is Centre hospitalier Saint Jean Perpignan, 7.5 mi away.
+1%deaths against expected, after care homesC−Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw125
Adjusted101
Median town88
Expected100
3
GPs in Salses-le-Château · 1.7 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
7.5 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier Saint Jean Perpignan
7.5 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier Saint Jean Perpignan
85.5 · 78.9
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Pyrénées-Orientales, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Salses-le-Château has more crime per resident than 71% of compared French towns
2025 saw 97 offenses recorded in Salses-le-Château. The yearly rates for 2023–2025: 5.9 violent offenses and 20.6 graded property crimes per 1,000 residents. The commonest graded crime here was criminal damage (2025).
5.9recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearCSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage47
Theft from vehicles24
Family violence11
Burglary9
Other physical violence6
Fraud33
Theft without violence18
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.
5.9
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
20.6
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
97
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
3.0%
of the index rests on the département’s average, used where small counts aren’t published
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · When sexual violence, armed robbery and vehicle theft number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (3.0% of the index here). The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
HousingCost of living C
Salses-le-Château is graded a C for cost of living
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The median price, €2,017/m², comes from 137 sales of houses and apartments in Salses-le-Château from July 2023 to June 2026. A house rents for an estimated €9.69/m² a month. Houses made up 99% of the homes sold; apartments the rest.
€2,017/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Salses-le-Château€2,017/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Pyrénées-Orientales median€2,444/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,013/m²
136
€11.55/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€9.45 to €14.10/m² a month)
6.2
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€9.69/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€22,720
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes Corbières Salanque Méditerranée
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Work & commuteJobs & income D−
Salses-le-Château has higher unemployment than Pyrénées-Orientales’ towns or compared French towns: 15.7%
7.5% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both Pyrénées-Orientales’ towns (9.2%) and compared French towns (13.4%). Households’ median disposable income: €22,710 a year per consumption unit.
7%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving88%
On foot4%
Public transport2%
Bicycle2%
Motorbike or scooter1%
650
jobs based in Salses-le-Château, 0.4 per working resident
15.7%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€22,710
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
4%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
B
Walkability: better than 65% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
Degrees are less common in Salses-le-Château than in Pyrénées-Orientales’ towns or across compared French towns: 21% of adults
Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 11% of the town. Children under 15 make up 18%, above both Pyrénées-Orientales’ towns (16%) and compared French towns (17%). The 65-and-over age group makes up nearly a quarter of residents.
42.2median age
Salses-le-ChâteauPyrénées-Orientales medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
11%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma22%
CAP or BEP27%
Baccalauréat22%
Higher education21%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Pyrénées-Orientales 52.6%, France 51.8%.
The Culture ministry lists 5 historic monuments in Salses-le-Château: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 4 inscrit (the second level).
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Salses-le-Château
Is Salses-le-Château safe?
It grades C for safety, #25 of 43 in Pyrénées-Orientales. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 9 burglaries and 47 acts of criminal damage.
Is Salses-le-Château expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,017/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Estimated advertised apartment rents are €11.55/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Salses-le-Château grades C for cost of living.
About Salses-le-Château
Commune in Pyrénées-Orientales, Occitanie
Salses-le-Château is a commune of 3,965 people in the Communauté de communes Corbières Salanque Méditerranée. 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
Population
3,965 (INSEE, census 2023)
Intercommunality
Communauté de communes Corbières Salanque Méditerranée
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.
