Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,006 in Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France.
Chars has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is schools (D−): bac results 13 points below the expected rate; brevet results 13 points below the expected rate. At the median price of €2,578/m², a 70 m² home costs 5.6 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté de communes Vexin Centre. Its strongest is walkability (A): 90% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 24% 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.
Each subject compares Chars 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 →
The Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Chars: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 0 inscrit (the second level).
The oldest protected part dates from the 12th century; the first monument here was protected in 1912.
27% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Chars.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
In the comparison, Chars comes below both Val-d'Oise’s towns (87.0%) and compared French towns (92.9%).
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège des HautiersNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 172 | 81%−13 pts |
| Lycée professionnel régional du VexinNearest lycéeVocational lycée | Vocational lycée | 106 | 72%−13 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
7.8% of the labour force were unemployed, below both Val-d'Oise’s towns (9.9%) and compared French towns (10.1%). Chars has 450 jobs for 950 working residents, 0.5 per worker.
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.
After the care-home adjustment, Chars’ deaths ran at 100 per 100 expected, above both Val-d'Oise’s towns (84) and compared French towns (88). From 2016 to 2025, 226 residents of Chars died, against 150 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 51% more. The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic.
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
12% of residents are 15 to 24 and 17% are 65 or over, against 12% and 15% in the median compared commune of Val-d'Oise. 32% of adults who have left education hold a higher-education diploma (Val-d'Oise 38%, France 30%).
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Val-d'Oise 51.5%, France 51.8%.
| Chars | Val-d'Oise median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 21% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 12% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 26% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 25% | 26% |
| 65+ | 17% | 15% | 22% |
| No diploma | 19% | 17% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 22% | 20% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 32% | 38% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Val-d'Oise median and France median: the median of compared communes
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
For Chars, that is above both Val-d'Oise’s towns (4.1%) and compared French towns (7.4%). The Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Chars: 1 classé (France’s highest heritage protection) and 0 inscrit (the second level). Among the classé monuments in Chars is Église Saint-Sulpice.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The median price, €2,578/m², comes from 65 sales of houses and apartments in Chars from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,575/m² | 52 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Police and gendarmerie recorded 25 offenses in the graded categories in Chars in 2025. For family violence, sexual violence, burglary, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles, this figure isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the index uses the département’s average instead, 30.5% of the index here.
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
Heritage, museums and other places to visit in and near Chars. Best known first.
Chars has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Église Saint-Sulpice: Photo: Nitot · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata places 1 person here, but the articles don’t both confirm Chars as the birthplace, so nobody is listed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chars | 2,006 | — | — | B− | — | C− |
| Marines | 3,594 | 2.2 | D | C | C | D− |
| Magny-en-Vexin | 5,779 | 6.6 | C | C− | C− | A |
| Chaumont-en-Vexin Oise | 3,338 | 7.8 | C+ | C | B− | B |
| Courdimanche | 7,311 | 8.5 | C− | D− | B | B |
| Osny | 17,954 | 8.7 | C | D− | C− | A− |
| Cergy | 70,906 | 9.2 | D | D | C | B− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Chars has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 8 recorded violent incidents and 11.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
They grade D−, better than 2% of compared French towns. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Prices are close to the median of compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €2,578/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Chars grades B− for cost of living.
Commune in Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France
Chars is a commune of 2,006 people in the Communauté de communes Vexin Centre. 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.