Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,774 in Vendée, Pays de la Loire.
Saint-Mesmin has subject grades but no overall grade: French towns get one from 2,500 residents. Its weakest subject is walkability (C): 59% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 4% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. At the median price of €1,294/m², a 70 m² home costs 3.7 times the median annual income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size) in the Communauté de communes du Pays de Pouzauges. Its strongest is health (A+): after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 34% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The one thing Saint-Mesmin does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Saint-Mesmin 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 Saint-Mesmin, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
The oldest protected part dates from the 15th century; the first monument here was protected in 1988.
17% 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 Saint-Mesmin.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
That puts Saint-Mesmin below both Vendée’s towns (85) and compared French towns (88). From 2016 to 2025, 143 residents of Saint-Mesmin died, against 197 expected from France’s death rates at each age: 27% fewer. 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
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
On this, Saint-Mesmin is below both Vendée’s towns (€11.32/m²) and compared French towns (€12.41/m²). The median price, €1,294/m², comes from 59 sales of houses and apartments in Saint-Mesmin from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €1,294/m² | 59 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
At the census, 4.5% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, close to Vendée’s towns (7.6%) and below compared French towns (13.4%). Saint-Mesmin has 500 jobs for 750 working residents, 0.6 per worker. The median disposable income is €24,890 a year per consumption unit.
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.
In the comparison, Saint-Mesmin comes above both Vendée’s towns (6.3%) and compared French towns (7.4%). The Culture ministry lists 1 historic monument in Saint-Mesmin, none of them classé, France’s highest protection.
Ministère de la Culture, Mérimée (Licence Ouverte 2.0) · INSEE, census 2023, homes by build period
For Saint-Mesmin, that is below both Vendée’s towns (26%) and compared French towns (30%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 7.6% of residents.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
| Saint-Mesmin | Vendée median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 7.6% | 9.9% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 25% | 23% | 22% |
| No diploma | 24% | 19% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 36% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 16% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Vendée median and France median: the median of compared communes
Police and gendarmerie recorded 9 offenses in the graded categories in Saint-Mesmin in 2025. For family violence, sexual violence, burglary, vehicle theft 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, 84.6% of the index here.
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
Heritage in and near Saint-Mesmin. Best known first.
Saint-Mesmin has one historic monument; beside it, the nearest classé monuments in other towns, within 15.5 mi.
Logis et chapelle de l'Audrière: Photo: Spouik · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Saint-Mesmin 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint-Mesmin | 1,774 | — | — | A− | — | A+ |
| Cerizay Deux-Sèvres | 4,793 | 3.7 | B+ | A | B+ | B |
| Pouzauges | 5,668 | 4.7 | A | B+ | B+ | B+ |
| Sèvremont | 6,385 | 6.2 | A+ | B | A+ | A |
| Le Boupère | 3,151 | 9 | — | B+ | — | B+ |
| Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre Deux-Sèvres | 5,121 | 9 | A+ | A | A− | B+ |
| Les Epesses | 2,983 | 9.7 | — | B+ | — | A+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Saint-Mesmin has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 3.9 recorded violent incidents and 7.1 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Homes cost less than in most compared French towns: the median sale price from July 2023 to June 2026 was €1,294/m², against €2,430/m² for the median of compared French towns. Incomes are lower than in most compared French towns too, so Saint-Mesmin grades A− for cost of living.
Commune in Vendée, Pays de la Loire
Saint-Mesmin is a commune of 1,774 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
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.