Les Herbiers grades A overall: better than 88% of compared French towns, and #17 of 46 in Vendée. Its strongest is jobs & income (A): 1.9 jobs per working resident; 7.1% unemployment.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
Each subject compares Les Herbiers 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.
Ministry of Education (DEPP) · brevet and bac 2025, value added (IVAC, IVAL) · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Les Herbiers has less crime per resident than 67% of compared French towns
Jobs outnumber working residents in Les Herbiers (14,850 to 7,850): it draws people in from around. Police and gendarmerie figures for Les Herbiers show 255 offenses in 2025. The yearly rates for 2023–2025: 6.7 violent offenses and 11.3 graded property crimes per 1,000 residents. Of the graded crimes in the town, criminal damage came up most often (2025).
6.7recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearB+Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage87
Theft from vehicles46
Family violence33
Other physical violence32
Sexual violence20
Vehicle theft20
Burglary17
Fraud83
Theft without violence77
Drug use65
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.
6.7
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
11.3
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
255
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
0.2%
of the index rests on the département’s average, used where small counts aren’t published
Source: SSMSI (Interior Ministry), recorded crime by commune, 2023–2025 · Licence Ouverte · Small counts of armed robbery go unpublished (five or fewer in at least one of the last three years); the département’s average stands in, 0.2% of the index here. Crimes are counted in the commune where they happen, then divided by its residents, so a town that draws people in from around can look higher. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
History
7 historic monuments and a protected historic area since 1996
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
Its oldest listed monument dates from the 12th century. Among the classé monuments in Les Herbiers is Abbaye de La Grainetière (ancienne). Homes from before 1919 make up 5.5% of the total, below both Vendée’s towns (6.3%) and compared French towns (7.4%).
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HealthHealth B
Les Herbiers’ death rate, adjusted for age and care homes, is lower than in 65% of compared French towns
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
13 GPs practise in Les Herbiers. Its four care homes for older people (368 places) count their residents as Les Herbiers’; allowing for them, deaths were 17% below expected. France’s death rates at each age would predict 1,566 deaths locally from 2016 to 2025; there were 1,654, 6% more. The nearest emergency department to Les Herbiers is Centre hospitalier de Cholet, 13.3 mi away.
−17%deaths against expected, after care homesBHealth Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw106
Adjusted83
Median town88
Expected100
13
GPs in Les Herbiers · 3.1 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
13.3 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier de Cholet
13.3 mi
to the nearest maternity unit, Centre hospitalier de Cholet
85.5 · 80.2
years of life expectancy at birth, women · men, Vendée, 2025 (provisional) · France 85.9 · 80.3
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
A home here costs 6.3 years of the median income in Communauté de communes du Pays des Herbiers. Apartments in Les Herbiers sell for €2,636/m², houses for €2,296/m². Houses were 90% of what sold.
€2,333/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Les Herbiers€2,333/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Vendée median€2,339/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€2,296/m²
444
Apartments
€2,636/m²
47
€11.60/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€9.34 to €14.40/m² a month)
6.3
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€8.82/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€25,770
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes du Pays des Herbiers
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Who lives here
A typical mix of ages for France
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 11% of the population. The median resident of Les Herbiers is 42.8 years old. Just over a fifth of residents have reached 65.
42.8median age
Les HerbiersVendée medianFrance median
Ages · share of residents
11%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Highest diploma · residents 15 and older who have left education
No diploma21%
CAP or BEP26%
Baccalauréat19%
Higher education29%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
WomenFrance medianMen
About an even split. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
INSEE, census 2023 · Vendée median and France median: the median of compared communes
Work & commuteJobs & income A
Les Herbiers has lower unemployment than Vendée’s towns or compared French towns: 7.1%
At the census, 10.1% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, above Vendée’s towns (7.6%) but below compared French towns (13.4%). The median disposable income was €26,010 a year per consumption unit, near both Vendée’s towns (€26,310) and compared French towns (€25,970).
10%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving84%
On foot5%
Bicycle4%
Motorbike or scooter2%
Public transport1%
14,850
jobs based in Les Herbiers, 1.9 per working resident
7.1%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€26,010
median annual income per consumption unit, 2023 · median of compared French towns €25,970
4%
worked without traveling (at or from home)
B−
Walkability: better than 53% of compared French towns
Bains et lavoirs publics (anciens): Photo: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Château de Boistissandeau: Photo: Selbymay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Donjon d'Ardelay: Photo: Jimmy44 · CC BY-SA 3.0
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Les Herbiers
Is Les Herbiers safe?
It grades B+ for safety, #26 of 46 in Vendée. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 17 burglaries and 87 acts of criminal damage.
Are schools in Les Herbiers good?
They grade A−, better than 79% of compared French towns and #18 of 34 in Vendée. The lycée stands out: 100% of 252 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Jean XXIII in 2025, a point above the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Les Herbiers expensive to live in?
Estimated advertised apartment rents are €11.60/m² a month, charges included. Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Les Herbiers grades C+ for cost of living.
About Les Herbiers
Commune in Vendée, Pays de la Loire
Les Herbiers is a commune of 16,521 people in the Communauté de communes du Pays des Herbiers. 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
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.
