What are the 10 French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?

In order: Arcachon, Biarritz, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Divonne-les-Bains, Garches, La Baule-Escoublac, Mouvaux, Saint-Raphaël, Anglet and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

What is the top 5 of French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?

Arcachon (58.7 / 1,000 inhab.), Biarritz (56.4 / 1,000 inhab.), Neuilly-sur-Seine (52.8 / 1,000 inhab.), Divonne-les-Bains (47.2 / 1,000 inhab.) and Garches (45.6 / 1,000 inhab.).

Which city is 2nd in the ranking of French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?

Biarritz, at 56.4 / 1,000 inhab., just behind Arcachon (58.7 / 1,000 inhab.).

Is Arcachon really the French city with the most golfers per inhabitant?

Yes, at 58.7 / 1,000 inhab., ahead of Biarritz (56.4 / 1,000 inhab.) and Neuilly-sur-Seine (52.8 / 1,000 inhab.).

In which département is Arcachon?

Arcachon is in département 33, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

What is the difference between Arcachon and Biarritz?

Arcachon is at 58.7 / 1,000 inhab., Biarritz at 56.4 / 1,000 inhab. The table gives the same figure for all 50 places, so any two of them can be compared the same way.

Which city is 10th in the ranking of French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?

Saint-Jean-de-Luz, at 38.8 / 1,000 inhab.

How many French cities does this ranking compare?

1,034, with the top 50 listed in full in the table below.

Is there a complete ranking of French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?

Yes, the table below: the top 50 of 1,034, each with its département and its region, and the exact method and scope stated underneath it.

Which French towns have the highest golf licence rate?

Arcachon (58.7 / 1,000 inhab.), Biarritz (56.4 / 1,000 inhab.), Neuilly-sur-Seine (52.8 / 1,000 inhab.), Divonne-les-Bains (47.2 / 1,000 inhab.) and Garches (45.6 / 1,000 inhab.). Coastal resorts and affluent western suburbs of Paris dominate, which says as much about who lives there as about the courses.

In order: Arcachon (58.7 / 1,000 inhab.), Biarritz (56.4 / 1,000 inhab.), Neuilly-sur-Seine (52.8 / 1,000 inhab.), Divonne-les-Bains (47.2 / 1,000 inhab.), Garches (45.6 / 1,000 inhab.), La Baule-Escoublac (45.6 / 1,000 inhab.), Mouvaux (45 / 1,000 inhab.), Saint-Raphaël (41.4 / 1,000 inhab.), Anglet (39 / 1,000 inhab.), Saint-Jean-de-Luz (38.8 / 1,000 inhab.).

How can a town with no course rank so high?

Because a licence is counted where its holder LIVES, not where they play. The ministry is explicit that this is a census at the place of residence and not the place of practice, which is why wealthy suburbs with no fairway of their own sit near the top: their residents are members of clubs elsewhere. It also means the ranking measures who plays golf rather than where the courses are.

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Sport · Ministère des Sports, recensement des licences sportives

The French cities with the most golfers

Name: The French cities with the most golfers
Creator: Le Bon Rang
License: https://www.etalab.gouv.fr/licence-ouverte-open-licence/

Per inhabitant, the town with the most licensed golfers in France is Arcachon, with 58.7 / 1,000 inhabitants, ahead of Biarritz (56.4 / 1,000 inhabitants) and Neuilly-sur-Seine (52.8 / 1,000 inhabitants).

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Golfers / 1,000, 986 cities shown. The coloured surface estimates the local tendency from nearby ranked cities. Exact city values remain in the table. 48 ranked overseas cities are not plotted: they fall outside this map's frame. Projection: longitude compressed by cos(46.3°N), so east-west and north-south distances stay comparable. Source: Ministère des Sports, recensement des licences sportives · 2023.

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Top 50 of 1,034 cities
Rank	City	Golfers / 1,000 inhab.	Population	Region
1	33 Arcachon	58.7	11,092	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
2	64 Biarritz	56.4	26,206	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
3	92 Neuilly-sur-Seine	52.8	59,538	Île-de-France
4	01 Divonne-les-Bains	47.2	10,464	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
5	92 Garches	45.6	17,743	Île-de-France
6	44 La Baule-Escoublac	45.6	16,912	Pays de la Loire
7	59 Mouvaux	45	13,369	Hauts-de-France
8	83 Saint-Raphaël	41.4	37,113	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
9	64 Anglet	39	43,271	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
10	64 Saint-Jean-de-Luz	38.8	14,857	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
11	92 Saint-Cloud	38.4	29,855	Île-de-France
12	78 Le Vésinet	37.8	15,554	Île-de-France
13	59 Marcq-en-Barœul	36.8	40,184	Hauts-de-France
14	83 Sainte-Maxime	36.6	14,118	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
15	35 Dinard	34.8	10,772	Bretagne
16	06 Mandelieu-la-Napoule	33	21,640	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
17	06 Mougins	32.9	19,782	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
18	76 Bois-Guillaume	32.5	14,539	Normandie
19	78 Croissy-sur-Seine	31.4	11,013	Île-de-France
20	78 Maisons-Laffitte	30.7	23,093	Île-de-France
21	83 Roquebrune-sur-Argens	30.4	15,442	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
22	33 La Teste-de-Buch	29.8	27,566	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
23	44 Pornic	29.1	18,745	Pays de la Loire
24	92 Ville-d'Avray	28.7	11,089	Île-de-France
25	06 Valbonne	28.6	11,939	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
26	83 Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer	27.7	11,658	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
27	40 Biscarrosse	27.3	15,836	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
28	06 Biot	27.2	10,511	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
29	78 Voisins-le-Bretonneux	27	10,624	Île-de-France
30	63 Chamalières	26.4	17,509	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
31	78 Saint-Germain-en-Laye	25	45,931	Île-de-France
32	78 Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt	25	30,689	Île-de-France
33	91 Verrières-le-Buisson	25	15,057	Île-de-France
34	69 Écully	24.8	17,944	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
35	78 La Celle-Saint-Cloud	24.7	20,460	Île-de-France
36	92 Boulogne-Billancourt	24.4	119,019	Île-de-France
37	33 Le Bouscat	23.7	25,081	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
38	33 Andernos-les-Bains	23.4	12,710	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
39	30 Villeneuve-lès-Avignon	23.1	13,148	Occitanie
40	64 Urrugne	22.8	10,661	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
41	77 Fontainebleau	22.5	15,583	Île-de-France
42	76 Mont-Saint-Aignan	22.2	20,165	Normandie
43	91 Gif-sur-Yvette	21.8	22,544	Île-de-France
44	17 Royan	21.6	19,425	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
45	59 Wasquehal	21.4	20,726	Hauts-de-France
46	06 Mouans-Sartoux	21.4	11,015	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
47	60 Senlis	21.3	15,157	Hauts-de-France
48	83 La Londe-les-Maures	21.3	10,584	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
49	44 Guérande	21.2	16,804	Pays de la Loire
50	33 Gujan-Mestras	21	22,153	Nouvelle-Aquitaine

The table stops at 50. Search any of the 1,034 ranked towns ↑

The other end : The French cities where golf is least played

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Scope, method and sources

Scope: France, metropolitan and overseas, Corsica and the DROM included. This dataset holds every commune of 10,000 inhabitants or more, plus smaller communes famous enough to be household names, 1,131 in all. It is not the full list of 35,000 French communes, so a village can sit outside a ranking whose extreme it would otherwise hold. This particular ranking is a rate per inhabitant, so it covers towns of 10,000 people or more only: in a village of a hundred, three licence holders would read as thirty per thousand and outrank a town with a professional club, so no rate is published below that size rather than a meaningless one.

Method and sources: populations are the INSEE legal populations, boundaries and coordinates come from the IGN commune registry, both served by geo.api.gouv.fr. Density is the population divided by the commune's area; distances are measured as the crow flies from the commune's centre. Data read on August 28, 2026.

13 questions about this ranking

What are the 10 French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?: In order: Arcachon, Biarritz, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Divonne-les-Bains, Garches, La Baule-Escoublac, Mouvaux, Saint-Raphaël, Anglet and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
What is the top 5 of French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?: Arcachon (58.7 / 1,000 inhab.), Biarritz (56.4 / 1,000 inhab.), Neuilly-sur-Seine (52.8 / 1,000 inhab.), Divonne-les-Bains (47.2 / 1,000 inhab.) and Garches (45.6 / 1,000 inhab.).
Which city is 2nd in the ranking of French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?: Biarritz, at 56.4 / 1,000 inhab., just behind Arcachon (58.7 / 1,000 inhab.).
Is Arcachon really the French city with the most golfers per inhabitant?: Yes, at 58.7 / 1,000 inhab., ahead of Biarritz (56.4 / 1,000 inhab.) and Neuilly-sur-Seine (52.8 / 1,000 inhab.).
In which département is Arcachon?: Arcachon is in département 33, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.
What is the difference between Arcachon and Biarritz?: Arcachon is at 58.7 / 1,000 inhab., Biarritz at 56.4 / 1,000 inhab. The table gives the same figure for all 50 places, so any two of them can be compared the same way.
Which city is 10th in the ranking of French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?: Saint-Jean-de-Luz, at 38.8 / 1,000 inhab.
How many French cities does this ranking compare?: 1,034, with the top 50 listed in full in the table below.
What are the French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant in 2026?: This ranking uses the most recent official figures published as of 2026: Arcachon leads with 58.7 / 1,000 inhab.
Is there a complete ranking of French cities with the most golfers per inhabitant?: Yes, the table below: the top 50 of 1,034, each with its département and its region, and the exact method and scope stated underneath it.
Which French towns have the highest golf licence rate?: Arcachon (58.7 / 1,000 inhab.), Biarritz (56.4 / 1,000 inhab.), Neuilly-sur-Seine (52.8 / 1,000 inhab.), Divonne-les-Bains (47.2 / 1,000 inhab.) and Garches (45.6 / 1,000 inhab.). Coastal resorts and affluent western suburbs of Paris dominate, which says as much about who lives there as about the courses.
What are the top 10?: In order: Arcachon (58.7 / 1,000 inhab.), Biarritz (56.4 / 1,000 inhab.), Neuilly-sur-Seine (52.8 / 1,000 inhab.), Divonne-les-Bains (47.2 / 1,000 inhab.), Garches (45.6 / 1,000 inhab.), La Baule-Escoublac (45.6 / 1,000 inhab.), Mouvaux (45 / 1,000 inhab.), Saint-Raphaël (41.4 / 1,000 inhab.), Anglet (39 / 1,000 inhab.), Saint-Jean-de-Luz (38.8 / 1,000 inhab.).
How can a town with no course rank so high?: Because a licence is counted where its holder LIVES, not where they play. The ministry is explicit that this is a census at the place of residence and not the place of practice, which is why wealthy suburbs with no fairway of their own sit near the top: their residents are members of clubs elsewhere. It also means the ranking measures who plays golf rather than where the courses are.

The table below ranks the top 50 of the 1,034 cities in the dataset, each with its département, its region and the figure it is ranked on (golfers per 1,000 inhabitants), so you can see not just the order but how far apart the places are. The numbers are official public data: INSEE legal populations and the IGN commune registry, with the exact method and the exact scope stated under the table rather than left to be guessed at.

The same data answers neighbouring questions too: see The French cities with the most hikers and The French cities with the most chess players, or all rankings for the full list. All of it comes from Le Bon Rang, a free daily game that gives you five French cities and one of these statistics and asks you for the order.