Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,518 in Vendée, Pays de la Loire.
Les Achards grades A overall: better than 94% of compared French towns, and #13 of 46 in Vendée. Its weakest subject is cost of living (C−): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 7 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Its strongest is safety (A+): an average of 2.6 recorded violent incidents and 6.3 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 2 things Les Achards does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Les Achards 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 Les Achards, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
4.7% 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 Les Achards.
Police and gendarmerie recorded 37 offenses in the graded categories in Les Achards in 2025. On the Safety Grade, Les Achards ranks 2nd of the 46 compared towns in Vendée. For family violence, other physical violence 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, 22.0% of the index here. Because that share is over 10%, this Safety Grade is less sure than most.
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
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
For Les Achards, that is above both Vendée’s towns (92.4%) and compared French towns (87.5%).
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Jacques LaurentNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 135 | 93%+1 pt |
| Collège Saint-Jacques la Forêt PrivateBest against expectations: 4 points above the expected rateCollège | Collège | 121 | 98%+4 pts |
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
That is the middle of 175 sales of houses and apartments in Les Achards from July 2023 to June 2026, against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns and €2,339/m² for the median of compared towns in Vendée.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,566/m² | 172 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Les Achards sits above both Vendée’s towns (16%) and compared French towns (17%) on this measure. 19% of residents are 65 or over.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
| Les Achards | Vendée median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 9.9% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 23% | 22% |
| No diploma | 17% | 19% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 31% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 27% | 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.
From 2016 to 2025, 503 residents of Les Achards died, against 475 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 6% more. Its care home for older people (108 places) counts its residents as Les Achards’; allowing for it, deaths were 16% below expected. The adjustment lowers most towns’ figures, so the comparison is what counts: the median of compared French towns is 12% below expected. 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
6.2% of Les Achards’ working residents walked, cycled or took public transport to work in the 2023 census, against 13% for the median of compared French towns; 88% drove.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Les Achards, none of them classé, France’s highest protection. 4.7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
Les Achards has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Menhir de Gobianne: Photo: Gregofhuest · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Les Achards 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Achards | 5,518 | — | A | C− | A+ | B |
| Sainte-Flaive-des-Loups | 2,585 | 3.7 | — | B− | — | A |
| Sainte-Foy | 2,717 | 5 | — | C | — | A+ |
| L'Île-d'Olonne | 2,802 | 6.5 | — | C− | — | C+ |
| Nieul-le-Dolent | 2,571 | 7.4 | — | C | — | B+ |
| Coëx | 3,428 | 8.1 | — | C+ | — | C |
| Brem-sur-Mer | 2,993 | 8.2 | — | C− | — | C |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades A+ for safety, #2 of 46 in Vendée. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 5 burglaries and 19 acts of criminal damage.
They grade A, better than 90% of compared French towns and #13 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 lower than in most compared French towns, so Les Achards grades C− for cost of living.
Commune in Vendée, Pays de la Loire
Les Achards is a commune of 5,518 people in the Communauté de communes du Pays des Achards. 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.