Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 2,802: a town in Vendée, Pays de la Loire.
L'Île-d'Olonne is hard to get around without a car (D): nearly two in five residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 2% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Cost of living is weaker too (C−) — at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 8.3 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Work and incomes lag: 0.3 jobs per working resident; 8.9% unemployment. Second homes make up 11% of its housing.
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. L'Île-d'Olonne has no overall grade because safety and schools aren’t graded here.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The 2 things L'Île-d'Olonne does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares L'Île-d'Olonne 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.
L'Île-d'Olonne has no overall grade because safety and schools aren’t graded here.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry lists no building in L'Île-d'Olonne as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Menhir dit La Conche-Verte, in Les Sables-d'Olonne, 2.1 mi away.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in L'Île-d'Olonne.
The unemployment rate comes to 8.9%. 3.2% of L'Île-d'Olonne’s working residents had no journey to work at the census. Also worth knowing: the median disposable income was €26,850 a year per consumption unit, near both Vendée’s towns (€26,310) and compared French towns (€25,970).
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.
The estimated advertised rent is €12.93/m² a month, higher than Vendée’s towns (€11.32/m²) and near compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Renting a house costs an estimated €10.13/m² a month. L'Île-d'Olonne recorded 130 home sales from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €3,263/m² | 130 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Young adults of 15 to 24 are nearly one in ten residents, below both Vendée’s towns (9.9%) and compared French towns (11%). Over-65s are just over a quarter of the population. The median resident of L'Île-d'Olonne is 50.5 years old.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
| L'Île-d'Olonne | Vendée median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 9.9% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 26% | 23% | 22% |
| No diploma | 16% | 19% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 33% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 26% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Vendée median and France median: the median of compared communes
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
194 deaths in L'Île-d'Olonne between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 215: 10% below. Life expectancy in Vendée: 85.5 years for women and 80.2 for men (2025); France averages 85.9 and 80.3. There are 2 general practitioners locally.
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 · The care-home adjustment is a TownRatings modeling step, not an official statistic. A less sure grade: it could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Museums and heritage in and near L'Île-d'Olonne. Best known first.
Nothing in L'Île-d'Olonne is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in L'Île-d'Olonne yet.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L'Île-d'Olonne | 2,802 | — | — | C− | — | C+ |
| Brem-sur-Mer | 2,993 | 3.3 | — | C− | — | C |
| Les Sables-d'Olonne | 49,603 | 4.3 | B | D | C+ | B+ |
| Sainte-Foy | 2,717 | 5.5 | — | C | — | A+ |
| Bretignolles-sur-Mer | 5,344 | 5.8 | C | C− | B− | B− |
| Les Achards | 5,518 | 6.5 | A | C− | A+ | B |
| Coëx | 3,428 | 9.2 | — | C+ | — | C |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
L'Île-d'Olonne has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 2.7 recorded violent incidents and 7.6 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so L'Île-d'Olonne grades C− for cost of living.
Commune in Vendée, Pays de la Loire
L'Île-d'Olonne is a commune of 2,802 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Les Sables d'Olonne Agglomération. 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 November 4, 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.