Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. Housing is within reach (A+): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 3.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Fresnay-sur-Sarthe’s overall grade, B+, puts it better than 68% of compared French towns. The ranking puts it #21 of 31 in Sarthe. It also does well on health (B+): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 20% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. What holds it back is schools — brevet results 5 points below the expected rate. Jobs & income is weaker too (C−) — 1.1 jobs per working resident; 13.5% unemployment. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for safety and B for walkability.
Figures: prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · employment and commuting, INSEE census 2023 · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · amenities, INSEE BPE 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 Fresnay-sur-Sarthe 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.
Hazard riskNot graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas–
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Église à l'exception des deux chapelles modernes de l'abside · Classé · Photo: Eponimm · CC BY-SA 3.0
Fresnay-sur-Sarthe’s story
Fresnay-sur-Sarthe in pictures
The Culture ministry lists 4 historic monuments in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 3 inscrit (the second level).
The oldest protected part dates from the 11th century; the first monument here was protected in 1912.
A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) is on the ministry’s list; its rules are still being drawn up.
31% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
1912First protected: Église à l'exception des deux chapelles modernes de l'abside
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe.
HousingCost of living A+
Renting in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe costs less than in Sarthe’s towns and across compared French towns, at an estimated advertised €7.68/m² a month
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Behind the median of €1,109/m²: 134 houses and apartments sold in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe between July 2023 and June 2026. Houses made up 99% of the homes sold; apartments the rest.
€1,109/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Fresnay-sur-Sarthe€1,109/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Sarthe median€1,638/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,102/m²
133
€7.68/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€5.93 to €9.94/m² a month)
3.2
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€7.12/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,480
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes Haute Sarthe Alpes Mancelles
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
An older town: 33% of people in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe are 65 or over, more than in Sarthe’s towns and across compared French towns
The share aged 15 to 24 is 8.6%. Children under 15 make up 16%, below Sarthe’s towns (17%) and compared French towns (17%) alike. At 51, the median resident of Fresnay-sur-Sarthe sits in the middle of the age range.
51median age
Fresnay-sur-SartheSarthe medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
33%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma32%
CAP or BEP31%
Baccalauréat15%
Higher education16%
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 82 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
INSEE, census 2023 · Sarthe median and France median: the median of compared communes
HealthHealth B+
Fresnay-sur-Sarthe has a lower adjusted death rate than 73% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
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. From 2016 to 2025, 598 residents of Fresnay-sur-Sarthe died, against 553 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 8% more. Its two care homes for older people (173 places) count their residents as Fresnay-sur-Sarthe’s; allowing for them, deaths were 20% below expected. The nearest emergency department to Fresnay-sur-Sarthe is Centre hospitalier Intercommunal Alencon Mamers, 9.8 mi away.
−20%deaths against expected, after care homesB+Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw108
Adjusted80
Median town88
Expected100
1
GPs in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe · 1.3 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
9.8 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier Intercommunal Alencon Mamers
9.8 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier Intercommunal Alencon Mamers
85.9 · 79.9
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Sarthe, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Unemployment in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe, 13.5%, runs above Sarthe’s towns and compared French towns
Half of residents lived on more than €23,250 a year per consumption unit, below both Sarthe’s towns (€24,770) and compared French towns (€25,970). Public transport took 2.9% of Fresnay-sur-Sarthe’s working residents to work at the census. At the census, 6.0% of working residents in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe didn’t travel to work at all.
11%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving82%
On foot7%
Public transport3%
Motorbike or scooter1%
Bicycle1%
1,050
jobs based in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe, 1.1 per working resident
13.5%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€23,250
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 62% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
History
Fresnay-sur-Sarthe keeps more of its old housing than Sarthe’s towns or compared French towns: 31% built before 1919
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe is Église à l'exception des deux chapelles modernes de l'abside. The Culture ministry lists 4 historic monuments locally: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 3 inscrit (the second level). The protected list starts in the 11th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Safety
Crime per resident in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe is lower than in 56% of compared French towns
The graded crime recorded most in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe was criminal damage (2025). Over 2025, Fresnay-sur-Sarthe logged 65 recorded offenses. Violence against people averaged 10.6 per 1,000 residents a year over 2023–2025; graded property crimes averaged 9.6.
10.6recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearBSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage29
Other physical violence16
Family violence10
Sexual violence10
Armed robbery0
Fraud27
Theft without violence13
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.
10.6
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
9.6
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
65
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
11.9%
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 · For burglary, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, the count isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in a year of the last three), so the index uses the département’s average, 11.9% of the index here. As that share tops 10%, this Safety Grade carries more doubt than most. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Nearby attractions
Château de Fresnay-sur-Sarthe and 5 more in and around Fresnay-sur-Sarthe
Heritage, museums and other places to visit in and near Fresnay-sur-Sarthe. Best known first.
The Culture ministry lists 4 historic monuments in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 3 inscrit (the second level).
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Fresnay-sur-Sarthe
Is Fresnay-sur-Sarthe safe?
It grades B for safety, #15 of 31 in Sarthe.
Are schools in Fresnay-sur-Sarthe good?
They grade D, better than 13% of compared French towns and #30 of 34 in Sarthe. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Fresnay-sur-Sarthe expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,109/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Fresnay-sur-Sarthe grades A+ for cost of living.
About Fresnay-sur-Sarthe
Commune in Sarthe, Pays de la Loire
Fresnay-sur-Sarthe is a commune of 2,928 people in the Communauté de communes Haute Sarthe Alpes Mancelles. 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
2,928 (INSEE, census 2023)
Intercommunality
Communauté de communes Haute Sarthe Alpes Mancelles
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.
