Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 13,074 people, this town lies in Vendée, Pays de la Loire.
Real strengths, and real weak spots. Housing is expensive (C−): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 8.9 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality. Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez ranks #33 of 46 in Vendée, with a B− overall. It comes out better than 48% of compared French towns. Schools are its strong suit: brevet results 4.9 points above the expected rate. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety, C+ for health and C+ for jobs & income.
Figures: brevet and bac results, Ministry of Education · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi · recorded crime, SSMSI (Ministry of the Interior) · deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · employment, INSEE census 2023.
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 Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez 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 Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez 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, 3.2 mi away.
1.6% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Museums, family days out and other places to visit in and near Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez. Best known first.
MuseumÉcomusée de la bourrine du Bois-Juquaudin townWater parkWater parkAtlantic Tobogganin townAttractionAttractionFeeling Forestin townMuseumMuseumLa Livarde - Musée du Patrimoine Maritimein townGardenGardenLe jardin des Rigonneriesin townMuseumMuseumMusée de la Bourrine du Bois Juquaudin townPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez.
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 5.9% of residents, below both Vendée’s towns (9.9%) and compared French towns (11%). 10% of residents are children under 15. Among adults, 23% have a degree.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez | Vendée median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 10% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 5.9% | 9.9% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 13% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 43% | 23% | 22% |
| No diploma | 19% | 19% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 34% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 23% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Vendée median and France median: the median of compared communes
Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
On results, collèges and lycées here come #3 of 34 in Vendée. The nearest collège is 2.2 mi away. General-bac pupils go 3.7 mi to the nearest lycée.
| School | Level | Candidates | Passed, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collège Pierre Garcie FerrandeNearest collègeCollège | Collège | 161 | 96%+6 pts |
| 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
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The split in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez: €3,558/m² for houses, €3,041/m² for apartments. Advertised rents are estimated at €13.10/m² a month, above both Vendée’s towns (€11.32/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). Renting a house costs an estimated €10.85/m² a month.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €3,558/m² | 808 |
| Apartments | €3,041/m² | 735 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Per resident in work, Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez counts 0.8 jobs (3,050 jobs, 3,750 workers). Half of residents lived on more than €27,070 a year per consumption unit, near Vendée’s towns (€26,310) and higher than compared French towns (€25,970). At the census, 4.5% of working residents in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez didn’t travel to work at all.
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.
In Vendée, life expectancy at birth reaches 85.5 years for women and 80.2 for men (2025), next to 85.9 and 80.3 for France. 1,709 deaths in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 1,807: 5% below. The nearest emergency department to Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez is Centre hospitalier Loire Vendee Ocean site de Challans, 9.4 mi away.
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 · That adjustment for care homes is a model of TownRatings’ own, not official data.
In 2025, 312 offenses were recorded in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez. The yearly rates for 2023–2025: 6.8 violent offenses and 15 graded property crimes per 1,000 residents. Police and gendarmerie recorded 312 offenses in the graded categories here 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 · For armed robbery, 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, 0.2% of the index here. The count covers the offense categories the Safety Grade uses.
Nothing in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
2 notable people were born in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez | 13,074 | — | B− | C− | B− | C+ |
| Le Fenouiller | 4,978 | 2.7 | A− | C− | A+ | B |
| Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie | 8,333 | 2.8 | B | D | C | B |
| Soullans | 4,654 | 5.9 | B | C | A | B− |
| Saint-Jean-de-Monts | 8,868 | 5.9 | D | D | D | C− |
| Commequiers | 3,735 | 6.4 | — | B | — | B− |
| Bretignolles-sur-Mer | 5,344 | 8.1 | C | C− | B− | B− |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
It grades B− for safety, #31 of 46 in Vendée. In 2025 police and gendarmerie recorded 45 burglaries and 87 acts of criminal damage.
They grade A+, better than 97% of compared French towns and #3 of 34 in Vendée. Primary schools aren’t graded: France doesn’t publish their results by school.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez grades C− for cost of living.
Commune in Vendée, Pays de la Loire
Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez is a commune of 13,074 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 November 8, 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.