Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 2,717: a town in Vendée, Pays de la Loire.
Health is a strength: after allowing for care homes, deaths from 2016 to 2025 were 35% below expected, against 12% below for the median of compared French towns. Walkability is its weak spot (D): 56% of residents live within 800 m of a bakery, and 3% of working residents walk, cycle or take public transport to work. Housing is expensive (C): at the median price, a 70 m² home costs 7.6 times the median annual income per consumption unit in the intercommunality.
Figures: deaths, INSEE (by commune of residence, 2016–2025) · amenities, INSEE BPE 2025 · commuting, INSEE census 2023 · prices, DVF · income per consumption unit (an income adjusted for household size), INSEE Filosofi. Sainte-Foy has no overall grade because safety and schools aren’t graded here.
Hazard risk isn’t graded in France yet: national flood maps cover only some areas.
The 2 things Sainte-Foy does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compares Sainte-Foy 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.
Sainte-Foy has no overall grade because safety and schools aren’t graded here.
How TownRatings grades French towns →
The Culture ministry lists no building in Sainte-Foy as a monument historique. That’s true of 25% of compared French towns too.
The nearest classé monument is Château de Pierre-Levée, in Les Sables-d'Olonne, 3.4 mi away.
3.7% of its homes were built before 1919, against 7.4% in the median compared French town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Sainte-Foy.
Care access and life expectancy are shown for context, not graded.
135 deaths in Sainte-Foy between 2016 and 2025, where France’s rates at each age predict 164: 18% below. 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. The nearest emergency department to Sainte-Foy is Centre hospitalier Cote de Lumiere, 3.8 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 · The care-home step is TownRatings’ own calculation, not an official number.
3.5% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census. 300 jobs are based in Sainte-Foy, for 1,300 working residents (0.2 per worker). The unemployment rate comes to 5.7%.
Source: INSEE, census 2023 (commuting, employment, jobs at place of work); INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
Rents are the ministry’s estimates of advertised rents, not rents actually paid.
The estimated advertised rent is €12.70/m² a month, about level with compared French towns (€12.41/m²) and above Vendée’s towns (€11.32/m²). Sainte-Foy recorded 89 home sales from July 2023 to June 2026.
| By type | Median per m² | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | €2,983/m² | 89 |
Source: DGFiP, DVF property sales (Etalab geolocated); Housing Ministry, Carte des loyers 2025; INSEE, Filosofi 2023 · Licence Ouverte
People aged 15 to 24 make up nearly a tenth of the town, below Vendée’s towns (9.9%) and compared French towns (11%) alike. Sainte-Foy has a median age of 43.4 years. Graduates make up 27% of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
| Sainte-Foy | Vendée median | France median | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 8.2% | 9.9% | 11% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 21% | 23% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 23% | 22% |
| No diploma | 11% | 19% | 19% |
| CAP or BEP | 33% | 30% | 26% |
| Baccalauréat | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| Higher education | 27% | 26% | 30% |
INSEE, census 2023 · Vendée median and France median: the median of compared communes
2025 saw 0 offenses recorded in Sainte-Foy in the categories behind the grade.
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
Nothing in Sainte-Foy is on the monuments historiques list. These are the nearest classé monuments, within 15.5 mi.
Wikidata has nobody with a French article born in Sainte-Foy 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Foy | 2,717 | — | — | C | — | A+ |
| Les Sables-d'Olonne | 49,603 | 4.8 | B | D | C+ | B+ |
| Les Achards | 5,518 | 5 | A | C− | A+ | B |
| Talmont-Saint-Hilaire | 8,492 | 5.3 | C | D | B | C+ |
| L'Île-d'Olonne | 2,802 | 5.5 | — | C− | — | C+ |
| Sainte-Flaive-des-Loups | 2,585 | 7.2 | — | B− | — | A |
| Nieul-le-Dolent | 2,571 | 8.4 | — | C | — | B+ |
People: INSEE, census 2023. Miles: center to center.
Sainte-Foy has no Safety Grade: over a quarter of its index would rest on the département’s average. Recorded figures: an average of 2.9 recorded violent incidents and 3.9 recorded burglaries, vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Incomes are higher than in most compared French towns, so Sainte-Foy grades C for cost of living.
Commune in Vendée, Pays de la Loire
Sainte-Foy is a commune of 2,717 people in the Communauté d'agglomération Les Sables d'Olonne Agglomération. 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 4, 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.