The picture is mixed. With a C+ overall, Coulaines is better than just over two fifths of compared French towns. It ranks #29 of 31 in Sarthe. Incomes are on the low side (D): 1 job per working resident; 23.4% unemployment. At €1,977/m², the median price, 70 m² costs 5.6 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the Communauté urbaine Le Mans Métropole. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: 94% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 31% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. The rest of its grades are middling: B for schools and B for health.
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 · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025).
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 Coulaines 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 Coulaines.
Work & commuteJobs & income D
Coulaines has higher unemployment than Sarthe’s towns or compared French towns: 23.4%
At the census, 31.5% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, above both Sarthe’s towns (10.7%) and compared French towns (13.4%). 2,550 jobs are based in Coulaines, for 2,450 working residents (1 per worker). The typical income here, after tax and benefits, is €21,320 a year per consumption unit.
31%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving65%
Public transport21%
On foot7%
Bicycle3%
Motorbike or scooter2%
2,550
jobs based in Coulaines, 1 per working resident
23.4%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€21,320
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
2%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A+
Walkability: better than 96% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Recorded crime per resident is higher in Coulaines than in 78% of compared French towns
Each year (2023–2025 average), violence against people came to 15 per 1,000 residents and the graded property crimes to 13.9. Recorded offenses in Coulaines came to 202 in 2025. The commonest graded crime here was criminal damage (2025).
15recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearC−Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage66
Other physical violence42
Family violence40
Sexual violence19
Burglary18
Vehicle theft9
Theft from vehicles8
Armed robbery0
Drug use52
Theft without violence49
Fraud48
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.
15
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
13.9
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
202
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
under 0.1%
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 · The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
History
Coulaines: 1 historic monument, none of them classé
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Its heritage reaches back to the 12th century. 2.5% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Sarthe’s towns (11%) and compared French towns (7.4%).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HealthHealth B
Coulaines’ death rate, adjusted for age and care homes, is lower than in 59% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Its two care homes for older people (201 places) count their residents as Coulaines’; allowing for them, deaths were 15% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 752 deaths here from 2016 to 2025; there were 803, 7% more. Life expectancy at birth in Sarthe is 85.9 years for women and 79.9 for men (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. This Sarthe town has 11 family doctors.
−15%deaths against expected, after care homesBHealth Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw107
Adjusted85
Median town88
Expected100
11
GPs in Coulaines · 3.9 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
1.6 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier du Mans
1.6 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier du Mans
85.9 · 79.9
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Sarthe, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
88.3% of candidates passed the brevet at the 19 collèges within 5 km, at the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Vocational results within 5 km: 91% passed the bac pro, of 585 candidates at 5 lycées. Near Coulaines, 95.5% of lycée candidates passed the bac, above Sarthe’s towns (92.7%) and compared French towns (92.9%) alike. School results put the town #14 of 34 in Sarthe.
97%passed the bac (general and technological)BSchool Grade
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
A young town: 14% of people in Coulaines are 15 to 24, more than in both Sarthe’s towns and compared French towns
Children are 19% of the town. People 65 and over make up 21% of the town, lower than both Sarthe’s towns (26%) and compared French towns (22%). The middle age in Coulaines is 40.1.
40.1median age
CoulainesSarthe medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
14%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma29%
CAP or BEP29%
Baccalauréat16%
Higher education19%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About an even split. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Sarthe median and France median: the median of compared communes
HousingCost of living B−
Renting in Coulaines costs an estimated advertised €10.82/m² a month, against €9.64/m² in Sarthe’s towns and €12.41/m² in compared French towns
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The split in Coulaines: €2,084/m² for houses, €1,775/m² for apartments. The median price, €1,977/m², comes from 185 sales of houses and apartments here from July 2023 to June 2026. Houses made up 65% of the homes sold; apartments the rest.
€1,977/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Coulaines€1,977/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Sarthe median€1,638/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,084/m²
121
Apartments
€1,775/m²
64
€10.82/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€8.89 to €13.18/m² a month)
5.6
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€9.58/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,560
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté urbaine Le Mans Métropole
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Coulaines
Is Coulaines safe?
It grades C− for safety, #24 of 31 in Sarthe. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 18 burglaries and 66 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Coulaines good?
They grade B, better than 58% of compared French towns and #14 of 34 in Sarthe. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Coulaines expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,977/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Coulaines grades B− for cost of living.
About Coulaines
Commune in Sarthe, Pays de la Loire
Coulaines is a commune of 8,121 people in the Communauté urbaine Le Mans Métropole. 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.
