Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, home to 1,175 people.
Housing is within reach (A): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 4.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Add health to its strengths (A) — after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 27% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. The weak point is jobs & income: 0.6 jobs per working resident; 11.1% unemployment. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work: 43% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 4% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
Figures: 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. Simard has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The one thing Simard does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Simard 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.
Simard has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry lists no building in Simard as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Ferme-manoir, in Juif, 1.8 mi away.
18% 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 Simard.
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The median price, €1,484/m², comes from 40 sales of houses and apartments in Simard from July 2023 to June 2026. House rents are put at about €8.14/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,484/m² | 40 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
The typical income here, after tax and benefits, is €23,200 a year per consumption unit. Unemployment stood at 11.1%, about level with Saône-et-Loire’s towns (10.7%) and above compared French towns (10.1%). 4.9% of Simard’s working residents had no journey to work at the census.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Women in Saône-et-Loire live to 85.5 on average and men to 78.9 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. From 2016 to 2025, 112 residents of Simard died, against 123 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 9% fewer. The nearest emergency department to Simard is Ch William Morey Chalon Sur Saone, 16.7 mi away. For a family doctor, residents of Simard have one GP on hand.
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 figures behind this are our own model (TownRatings), not official statistics.
14% are under 15, close to Saône-et-Loire’s towns (15%) and below compared French towns (17%). The 65-and-over age group makes up just over a quarter of residents. Typical age in Simard: 49, the median.
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Saône-et-Loire 52.3%, France 51.8%.
| Simard | Saône-et-Loire median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 9.5% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 19% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 26% | 30% | 22% |
| No diploma | 31% | 25% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 31% | 31% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| Higher education | 16% | 22% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Saône-et-Loire median and France median: the median of compared communes
Nothing in Simard is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
One notable person was born in Simard.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simard | 1,175 | — | — | A | — | A |
| Louhans-Châteaurenaud | 6,446 | 6.5 | B | A− | C− | C+ |
| Ouroux-sur-Saône | 3,214 | 11 | — | B+ | — | B+ |
| Saint-Marcel | 6,211 | 14 | A | B− | B+ | A− |
| Gergy | 2,566 | 16 | — | B+ | — | A |
| Sennecey-le-Grand | 2,895 | 16 | A− | B+ | A | C |
| Chalon-sur-Saône | 45,102 | 17 | B+ | B+ | C | B |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Simard has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 3.8 recorded violent incidents and 4.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,484/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Simard grades A for cost of living.
Commune in Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Simard is a commune of 1,175 people in the Communauté de communes Bresse Louhannaise Intercom'. 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.