The best places to live in France according to annual review

Biarritz is the best French town to live in and Epron in Calvados is the best village, according to a well-known annual ranking that assesses the 35,000 communes of mainland France and Corsica.

The Villes et villages où il fait bon vivre ranking reflects scores for 190 criteria using data from official sources, such as state statistics body Insee. 

Map: Top 10 French departments best for health in new 2025 ranking

Each has a different weighting in a commune’s overall score, reflecting how important that issue is to people, as assessed in an OpinionWay poll.

Safety and health were among key priorities, as well as the vaguer notion of ‘quality of life’.

Taxation, leisure, shops, education and ecology are among other criteria used by the association that organises the rankings.

The south-west and Brittany dominate the top 20 towns.

Read more: Photos: The 14 villages vying to be France’s favourite in 2025

The top 50 towns to live in France

1. 1. Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)

   2. Angers (Maine-et-Loire)
   3. Annecy (Haute-Savoie)
   4. Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
   5. Rodez (Aveyron)
   6. La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime)
   7. Lorient (Morbihan)
   8. Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Manche)
   9. Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
   10. Brest (Finistère)
   11. Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine)
   12. Caen (Calvados)
   13. Nice (Alpes-Maritimes)
   14. La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée)
   15. Lannion (Côtes-d'Armor)
   16. Le Mans (Sarthe)
   17. Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
   18. Quimper (Finistère)
   19. Le Havre (Seine-Maritime)
   20. Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine)
   21. Chambéry (Savoie)
   22. Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor)
   23. Tours (Indre-et-Loire)
   24. Versailles (Yvelines)
   25. Vannes (Morbihan)
   26. Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes)
   27. Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin)
   28. Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine)
   29. Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique)
   30. Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine)
   31. Dijon (Côte-d'Or)
   32. Montpellier (Hérault)
   33. Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine)
   34. Saint-Étienne (Loire)
   35. Limoges (Haute-Vienne)
   36. Laval (Mayenne)
   37. Bordeaux (Gironde)
   38. Metz (Moselle)
   39. Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes)
   40. Asnières-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine)
   41. Toulon (Var)
   42. Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine)
   43. Nogent-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne)
   44. Aurillac (Cantal)
   45. Orléans (Loiret)
   46. Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône)
   47. Nantes (Loire-Atlantique)
   48. Cholet (Maine-et-Loire)
   49. Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine)
   50. Châteauroux (Indre)