Strong in places, weak in others. Taken together, its subjects give Le Mans a C overall, better than 31% of compared French towns. Crime runs high (D): an average of 13.7 recorded violent incidents and 22.2 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Getting around on foot or by bus is easy (A+): 98% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 38% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Health is a strength: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 18% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Homes sell for a median €2,034/m²: 70 m² comes to 5.8 years of the median income per consumption unit in the Communauté urbaine Le Mans Métropole.
Figures: amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, INSEE census 2023 · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · 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 Le Mans 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 Le Mans.
Work & commuteJobs & income C
More people in Le Mans are out of work than in Sarthe’s towns or across compared French towns: 15.7%
After tax and benefits, the median income is €23,610 a year per consumption unit. Le Mans holds 86,250 jobs; 56,250 of its residents are in work, so 1.5 jobs each. Public transport took 20.5% of Le Mans’ working residents to work at the census.
38%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving57%
Public transport21%
On foot10%
Bicycle8%
Motorbike or scooter2%
86,250
jobs based in Le Mans, 1.5 per working resident
15.7%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€23,610
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
3%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
A+
Walkability: better than 97% of compared French towns
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Le Mans sees more crime per resident than nine in ten compared French towns
More of the graded crimes in Le Mans were criminal damage than anything else (2025). Recorded offenses here came to 4,798 in 2025. On the Safety Grade, Le Mans ranks 30th of the 31 compared towns in Sarthe.
13.7recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearDSafety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage1,396
Family violence719
Other physical violence715
Theft from vehicles645
Burglary613
Sexual violence458
Vehicle theft214
Armed robbery38
Theft without violence1,453
Fraud951
Drug use710
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.
13.7
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
22.2
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
4,798
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
A secteur sauvegardé since 1966, and 84 historic monuments
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The oldest protected building goes back to Antiquity. A protected historic area (site patrimonial remarquable) has covered part of the town since 1966. Le Mans has 5.7 protected monuments per 10,000 residents, above both Sarthe’s towns (3.6) and compared French towns (2.5). Among the classé monuments here is Enceinte gallo-romaine (restes).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HealthHealth B+
Adjusted for age and care homes, Le Mans sees fewer deaths than 67% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In Sarthe, life expectancy at birth reaches 85.9 years for women and 79.9 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France. France’s death rates at each age would predict 15,812 deaths in Le Mans from 2016 to 2025; there were 14,526, 8% fewer. Its 19 care homes for older people (1,793 places) count their residents as Le Mans’; allowing for them, deaths were 18% below expected. 87 GPs practise here.
−18%deaths against expected, after care homesB+Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw92
Adjusted82
Median town88
Expected100
87
GPs in Le Mans · 3.3 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
1.7 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier du Mans
1.7 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
Renting in Le Mans costs an estimated advertised €11.77/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.
Houses sell for €2,139/m² in Le Mans, apartments for €1,923/m². Behind the median of €2,034/m²: 6,375 houses and apartments sold here between July 2023 and June 2026. House rents are put at about €9.78/m² a month.
€2,034/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Le Mans€2,034/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Sarthe median€1,638/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,139/m²
3,014
Apartments
€1,923/m²
3,361
€11.77/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€9.40 to €14.73/m² a month)
5.8
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€9.78/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,560
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté urbaine Le Mans Métropole
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Schools
86.8% of candidates passed the brevet at the 24 collèges within 5 km, at the expected rate
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Near Le Mans, 94.2% of lycée candidates passed the bac, above Sarthe’s towns (92.7%) and compared French towns (92.9%) alike. Vocational results within 5 km: 90% passed the bac pro, of 809 candidates at 7 lycées. Schools rank #22 of 34 in Sarthe.
96%passed the bac (general and technological)B−School Grade
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
A young town: 16% of people in Le Mans are 15 to 24, more than in Sarthe’s towns or compared French towns
Degrees are held by 34% of adults, above both Sarthe’s towns (22%) and compared French towns (30%). 22% of residents have reached 65. Ages in Le Mans split evenly at 40.4: half are older, half younger.
40.4median age
Le MansSarthe medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
16%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma20%
CAP or BEP23%
Baccalauréat17%
Higher education34%
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Enceinte gallo-romaine (restes): Photo: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cathédrale Saint-Julien: Photo: Pepijntje · Public domain · Château des Comtes du Maine: Photo: Le Mans · CC BY 3.0 · Collégiale de Saint-Pierre-de-la-Cour (ancienne): Photo: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: si.robi, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sébastien Bourdais: Zach Catanzareti Photo, CC BY 2.0 · Joseph Caillaux: Agence Rol, Public domain · Jean Françaix: Olivier Françaix, CC BY-SA 4.0 · François Migault: Martin Lee from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Stéphane Le Foll: Jackolan1, CC BY-SA 3.0
Le Mans’ neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more. The map uses IGN’s commune boundaries. See them on the map →
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Le Mans
Is Le Mans safe?
It grades D for safety. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 613 burglaries and 1,396 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Le Mans good?
They grade B−, better than 46% of compared French towns and #22 of 34 in Sarthe. 96% of 399 candidates passed the bac at Lycée polyvalent Gabriel Touchard - Washington in 2025, a point below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Le Mans expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,034/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Le Mans grades C+ for cost of living.
About Le Mans
Commune in Sarthe, Pays de la Loire
Le Mans is a commune of 146,249 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.
