A town without an obvious weak point. Homes are affordable: at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 4.2 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Safety is another plus (B+) — an average of 6.2 recorded violent incidents and 10.4 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. The overall grade comes out at A, better than 92% of compared French towns. Its place in the ranking is #14 of 46 in Vendée. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for schools, B for jobs & income and B− for walkability.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas. The overall grade uses the other six subjects.
What makes Pouzauges stand out
The 2 things Pouzauges does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Pouzauges 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.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Pouzauges.
History
More protected monuments for its size in Pouzauges than in Vendée or compared French towns: 8.8 per 10,000 residents
France has no History Grade yet: this card describes, it doesn’t grade.
The oldest protected building goes back to prehistory. Among the classé monuments in Pouzauges is Deux polissoirs. The town has 5 historic monuments on the Culture ministry’s list: 3 classé, the highest protection, and 2 inscrit, the second level. The pre-1919 share of homes is 11%.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
HousingCost of living B+
Homes in Pouzauges cost less than in both Vendée’s towns and compared French towns, with a median sale of €1,500/m²
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
Houses in Pouzauges sell for €1,534/m² and apartments for €1,439/m². Advertised rents are estimated at €10.17/m² a month, below Vendée’s towns (€11.32/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²) alike. House rents are put at about €8.58/m² a month.
€1,500/m²median sale price
Median sale price per m² · Jul 2023 to Jun 2026
Pouzauges€1,500/m²
Median of towns€2,430/m²
Vendée median€2,339/m²
By type
Median per m²
Sales
Houses
€1,534/m²
206
Apartments
€1,439/m²
30
€10.17/m²
estimated advertised apartment rent a month, charges included (€7.59 to €13.63/m² a month)
4.2
times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality, for 70 m² at the median price
€8.58/m²
estimated advertised house rent a month, charges included
€24,730
median annual income per consumption unit, Communauté de communes du Pays de Pouzauges
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Safety
Pouzauges sees less crime per resident than 74% of compared French towns
Pouzauges has 4,600 jobs for 2,400 working residents, so people come in from nearby communes to work. Recorded offenses locally came to 73 in 2025. The graded crime recorded most in the town was criminal damage (2025).
6.2recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a yearB+Safety Grade
Recorded by type · 2025
Criminal damage29
Theft from vehicles12
Other physical violence11
Vehicle theft9
Sexual violence7
Family violence5
Fraud23
Theft without violence16
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.
6.2
recorded violent incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
10.4
recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 average
73
offenses recorded in the graded categories in 2025
3.8%
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 · For armed robbery and burglary, the count isn’t published when it’s small (five or fewer in a year of the last three), so the index uses the département’s average, 3.8% 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.
HealthHealth B+
Pouzauges is 18.4 mi from the nearest emergency department
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
Its care home for older people (100 places) counts its residents as Pouzauges’; allowing for it, deaths were 20% below expected. 3 GPs practise locally. At birth, a girl in Vendée can expect 85.5 years and a boy 80.2 (2025); across France, 85.9 and 80.3. From 2016 to 2025, 578 residents of Pouzauges died, against 624 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 7% fewer.
−20%deaths against expected, after care homesB+Health Grade
Deaths per 100 expected · 2016–2025
Raw93
Adjusted80
Median town88
Expected100
3
GPs in Pouzauges · 1.8 GP consultations a year per resident within reach (APL)
18.4 mi
to the nearest emergency department, Centre hospitalier de Cholet
18.4 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
INSEE, census 2023 · Vendée median and France median: the median of compared communes
Work & commuteJobs & income B
Pouzauges has 1.9 jobs for every resident in work
Half of residents lived on more than €24,930 a year per consumption unit, below Vendée’s towns (€26,310) and close to compared French towns (€25,970). 9.4% of the labour force are out of work. On foot, by bike or by bus and train: that was how 8.0% of commuters travelled at the census.
8%walk, cycle or take transit
How working residents got to work · census 2023
Driving87%
On foot6%
Bicycle1%
Motorbike or scooter1%
Public transport0%
4,600
jobs based in Pouzauges, 1.9 per working resident
9.4%
unemployment rate, ages 15 to 64 in the labor force · median of compared French towns 10.1%
€24,930
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 46% of compared French towns
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Questions about Pouzauges
Is Pouzauges safe?
It grades B+ for safety, #22 of 46 in Vendée.
Are schools in Pouzauges good?
They grade B, better than 62% of compared French towns and #25 of 34 in Vendée. The lycée stands out: 100% of 117 candidates passed the bac at Lycée Notre-Dame de la Tourtelière in 2025, 2 points above the expected rate given its pupils’ backgrounds. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Is Pouzauges expensive to live in?
Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Pouzauges grades B+ for cost of living.
About Pouzauges
Commune in Vendée, Pays de la Loire
Pouzauges is a commune of 5,668 people in the Communauté de communes du Pays de Pouzauges. 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.
