Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,869 in Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France.
Bessancourt grades C overall: better than 31% of compared French towns, and #23 of 73 in Val-d'Oise. Its weakest subject is cost of living (D): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 9.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its strongest is walkability (A+): 99% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 33% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 2 things Bessancourt does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Bessancourt 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.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
Bessancourt has 1 historic monument on the Culture ministry’s list: 1 classé, the highest protection, and 0 inscrit, the second level.
The oldest protected part dates from the 12th century; the first monument here was protected in 1921.
Museums, heritage and other places to visit in and near Bessancourt. Best known first.
ChâteauChâteau de Méry-sur-Oise3.4 km northwest, in Méry-sur-Oise
ChâteauChâteau d'Auvers4.9 km northwest, in Auvers-sur-Oise
MuseumMusée Daubigny4.6 km northwest, in Auvers-sur-OiseMuseumMuseumMusée de l'Absinthe4.8 km northwest, in Auvers-sur-OiseMuseumMuseumMaison-atelier de Daubigny4.8 km northwest, in Auvers-sur-OisePhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bessancourt.
Unemployment runs at 8.2%. A third of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below Val-d'Oise’s towns (38.0%) but above compared French towns (13.4%). Median disposable income comes to €29,730 a year per consumption unit. Also worth knowing: for its 4,250 residents in work, Bessancourt has 1,100 jobs: 0.3 each.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
In Bessancourt, houses go for €3,690/m² and apartments for €3,931/m². Advertised rents are estimated at €18.02/m² a month, close to Val-d'Oise’s towns (€18.09/m²) and above compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Between July 2023 and June 2026, buyers took 278 homes in the town.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €3,690/m² | 151 |
| Apartments | €3,931/m² | 127 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The bac pass rate near Bessancourt is 85.8%, about level with Val-d'Oise’s towns (87.0%) and below compared French towns (92.9%). The town’s schools place #48 of 76 in Val-d'Oise on results.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège MaubuissonNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 149 | 81%−8 pts |
| Lycée Louis JouvetNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 325 | 90%−4 pts |
| Collège Le Petit BoisBest against expectations: 10 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 99 | 87%+10 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
15% of residents are 65 or over, near Val-d'Oise’s towns (15%) and lower than compared French towns (22%). Children are just over a fifth of the town. Bessancourt has a median age of 36.9.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Val-d'Oise 51.5%, France 51.8%.
| Bessancourt | Val-d'Oise median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 21% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 12% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 26% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 25% | 26% |
| 65+ | 15% | 15% | 22% |
| No diploma | 16% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 21% | 20% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 42% | 38% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Val-d'Oise median and France median: the median of compared communes
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
In Val-d'Oise, women can expect to live 85.9 years and men 81.1 (2025), against 85.9 and 80.3 across France. 480 deaths in Bessancourt between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 517: 7% below. For a family doctor, residents of Bessancourt can choose among 4 GPs.
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 · This figure includes a care-home adjustment that TownRatings models; no official statistic exists.
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Among the classé monuments in Bessancourt is Église Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais. Its heritage reaches back to the 12th century.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
The police record for Bessancourt lists 205 offenses in 2025. Each year (2023–2025 average), violence against people came to 4.9 per 1,000 residents and the graded property crimes to 16.5. Criminal damage topped the graded crimes in Bessancourt (2025).
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.
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · When armed robbery number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (1.7% of the index here). The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Bessancourt has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Église Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais: Photo: BastienM · CC BY-SA 3.0
2 notable people were born in Bessancourt.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessancourt | 8,869 | — | C | D | B− | B+ |
| Frépillon | 3,317 | 0.9 | C− | D | C | C− |
| Taverny | 27,593 | 1.3 | C | D | B− | B+ |
| Beauchamp | 9,849 | 1.8 | C+ | D | C+ | A− |
| Méry-sur-Oise | 9,983 | 2.1 | C− | D | C+ | B− |
| Saint-Leu-la-Forêt | 16,138 | 2.3 | C+ | D | B− | A |
| Mériel | 5,347 | 2.5 | C | D | B | B− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B− for safety, #18 of 73 in Val-d'Oise. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 22 burglaries and 64 acts of criminal damage.
They grade D, better than 11% of compared French towns and #48 of 76 in Val-d'Oise. 90% of 325 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Louis Jouvet in 2025, 4 points below the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Bessancourt grades D for cost of living.
Commune in Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France
Bessancourt is a commune of 8,869 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Val Parisis. 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.