Ranking shows the best places in France for residents in 2025

A new study has ranked over 34,900 communes, revealing the top places to live in France.

The 2025 classification was carried out by VilledeRêve.fr using over 130 sources to analyse 725 data sets per commune, including categories such as health, accessibility, cost of living and attractiveness. 

Kaysersberg Vignoble (Haut-Rhin), a village in the east of France, achieved first place in the ranking, followed by Guérande (Loire-Atlantique), Thônes (Haute-Savoie), Bezins-Garraux (Haute-Garonne), and Aime-la-Plagne (Savoie).

Villard-de-Lans (Isère), which was at the top of the list in 2024, has fallen into 10th place this year. 

Judging criteria

Ville de rêve collects data from a wide range of sources, including government departments, administrative bodies, public agencies (such as INSEE and CAF), and companies (including the SNCF, and Météo-France). 

This data is used to establish 19 thematic scores, holding different ‘weight’ when contributing to each town’s overall score out of 100.

In order of importance, categories include: Quality of Life, Accessibility to Nature, Safety, Health, Dynamism, Sustainability in the face of climate change (summarised as ‘in 2050’, referring to the expected impact of forecasted heatwaves, drought, flooding etc. by the year 2025), Economy & Work, Heritage, Presence of Natural and Technological Risks (based on the occurrence of natural disasters, climatic risks and emergency response operations), Culture, Sport, Attractiveness/Beauty, Cost of Living, Citizenship & Public Life, Education, Leisure, Accessibility and Transport, Innovation and Higher Education.

Some of the more specific criteria and data included: property prices, the average annual rainfall, the cost of petrol and fuel, air quality and pollution levels, the number of cultural associations.

The final list is then sorted into big and medium-sized towns, small towns, and villages, based on factors such as the number of inhabitants, the level of facilities and population density.

The full methodology behind the judging criteria can be found here. 

Read also: RANKED: France's 10 most dog-friendly towns and cities

The top 10 ‘big and medium’ towns (over 50,000 inhabitants)

1. Annecy (Haute-Savoie)

2. Versailles (Yvelines)

3. Besançon (Doubs)

4. Dijon (Côte-d'Or)

5. Pessac (Bordeaux)

6. Brest (Finistère)

7. Angers (Maine-et-Loire)

8. Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines)

9. Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle)

10. Caen (Calvados)

Annecy, captioned “expensive but worth it,” scored 89/100 in both the ‘Sport’ category (home to 433 sporting associations) and the ‘Dynamism’ category (with 1,784 restaurants and 221 bars). It comes in at number 47 in the overall ranking. 

Caen, the capital of the Calvados department in Normandy, was also recently voted as the best place to live in France for over-60s. Some 23% of the port city’s inhabitants are over 65, making it a big draw for retirees.

The top 10 ‘smaller’ towns (8,000 to 50,000 inhabitants)

1. Guérande (Loire-Atlantique)

2. Saint-Médard-en-Jalles (Gironde)

3. Lamballe-Armor (Côtes-d’Armor)

4. Vertou (Nantes)

5. Haguenau (Bas-Rhin)

6. Quimper (Finistère)

7. La Motte-Servolex (Savoie)

8. Lannion (Côtes-d’Armor)

9. Obernai (Alsace)

10. Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne)

Guérande scored 100/100 in the ‘Health’ category, with 166 GPs for every 100,000 inhabitants and a life expectancy of 85.7 years. It takes second place in the overall ranking.

Read also: LIST: French regions ranked by how happy residents are to live there

The top 10 villages and hamlets (under 8,000 inhabitants)

1. Kaysersberg Vignoble (Haut-Rhin)

2. Thônes (Haute-Savoie)

3. Bezins-Garraux (Haute-Garonne)

4. Aime-la-Plagne (Savoie)

5. Laruns (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)

6. Gérardmer (Vosges)

7. Oloron-Sainte-Marie (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)

8. Guidel (Morbihan)

9. Villard-de-Lans (Grenoble)

10. Eguisheim (Haut-Rhin)

With an overall score of 90/100, Kaysersberg Vignoble is at the top of the ranking. This village in the east of France has 4,400 inhabitants and scored highest in the ‘Quality of life’ category: 90% of the commune's surface area is taken up by espaces naturels (green areas), and just 1% of homes are deemed ‘over-occupied.’

The Ville de rêve website also allows you to find your personal ‘dream’ French town by using thematic filters and selecting your preferences. 

Filters include: Heritage and museums, safety and security, transport options, and weather.

To see the full 2025 ranking (as well as lists from 2022, 2023 et 2024) visit villederêve.fr.