Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,978 in Vendée, Pays de la Loire.
Le Fenouiller grades A− overall: better than 83% of compared French towns, and #22 of 46 in Vendée. Its weakest subject is cost of living (C−): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 8.4 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its strongest is safety (A+): an average of 1.5 recorded violent incidents and 9.4 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
The 3 things Le Fenouiller does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Le Fenouiller 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 no building in Le Fenouiller as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Menhir dit La Pierre-au-Trésor-de-la-Triée, in Notre-Dame-de-Riez, 2.6 mi away.
1.6% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Le Fenouiller.
More of the graded crimes in Le Fenouiller were criminal damage than anything else (2025). In all, 48 offenses reached the police record locally in 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 family violence, other physical violence, sexual violence, vehicle theft and theft from vehicles number five or fewer in a recent year, the figure is withheld, and the index uses the département’s average instead (21.6% of the index here). With more than 10% of the index estimated that way, this Safety Grade is less sure than most. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
The bac pass rate near Le Fenouiller is 99.2%, above both Vendée’s towns (97.1%) and compared French towns (92.9%). For exam results, it comes #4 of 34 in Vendée. The town’s pupils have a collège 1.2 mi away.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Pierre Garcie FerrandeNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 161 | 96%+6 pts |
| Lycée polyvalent Adeline BoutainNearest lycéeGeneral lycée | General lycée | 126 | 99%+1 pt |
| Collège Saint-Gilles PrivateBest against expectations: 4 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 198 | 98%+4 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Children under 15 make up 12%, lower than both Vendée’s towns (16%) and compared French towns (17%). 6.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Graduates make up 23% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Le Fenouiller | Vendée median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 6.9% | 9.9% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 15% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 35% | 23% | 22% |
| No diploma | 17% | 19% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 36% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 23% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Vendée median and France median: the median of compared communes
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
For a house, the estimated advertised rent is €10.52/m² a month. Between July 2023 and June 2026, buyers took 207 homes in Le Fenouiller. Among the homes sold, 96% were houses.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €3,214/m² | 199 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Jobs based in Le Fenouiller number 550, against 1,750 residents in work (0.3 per worker). 5.7% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, lower than both Vendée’s towns (7.6%) and compared French towns (13.4%). Of those in the labour force, 8.1% are unemployed.
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.
France’s death rates at each age would predict 557 deaths in Le Fenouiller from 2016 to 2025; there were 485, 13% fewer. After the care-home adjustment, the town’s deaths ran at 83 per 100 expected, near Vendée’s towns (85) and lower than compared French towns (88). The nearest emergency department to Le Fenouiller is Centre hospitalier Loire Vendee Ocean site de Challans, 9.5 mi away. The town has one family doctor.
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 figures behind this are our own model (TownRatings), not official statistics.
Museums, gardens and family days out in and near Le Fenouiller. Best known first.
Nothing in Le Fenouiller 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 Le Fenouiller 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Fenouiller | 4,978 | — | A− | C− | A+ | B |
| Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie | 8,333 | 1.8 | B | D | C | B |
| Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez | 13,074 | 2.7 | B− | C− | B− | C+ |
| Commequiers | 3,735 | 4.8 | — | B | — | B− |
| Bretignolles-sur-Mer | 5,344 | 6.1 | C | C− | B− | B− |
| Soullans | 4,654 | 6.1 | B | C | A | B− |
| Coëx | 3,428 | 7.1 | — | C+ | — | C |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades A+ for safety, #6 of 46 in Vendée. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 20 burglaries and 28 acts of criminal damage.
They grade A+, better than 96% of compared French towns and #4 of 34 in Vendée. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €12.70/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Le Fenouiller grades C− for cost of living.
Commune in Vendée, Pays de la Loire
Le Fenouiller is a commune of 4,978 people in the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays de Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. 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.