What are the 10 French cities ranked by private school?

In order: La Roche-sur-Yon, Les Sables-d'Olonne, Challans, Montaigu-Vendée, Les Herbiers, Fontenay-le-Comte, Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, Aizenay, L'Île-d'Yeu and Lorient.

What is the top 5 of French cities ranked by private school?

La Roche-sur-Yon (52.3 %), Les Sables-d'Olonne (52.3 %), Challans (52.3 %), Montaigu-Vendée (52.3 %) and Les Herbiers (52.3 %).

Which city is 2nd in the ranking of French cities ranked by private school?

Les Sables-d'Olonne, at 52.3 %, just behind La Roche-sur-Yon (52.3 %).

Is La Roche-sur-Yon really the French city ranked first on private school?

Yes, at 52.3 %, ahead of Les Sables-d'Olonne (52.3 %) and Challans (52.3 %).

In which département is La Roche-sur-Yon?

La Roche-sur-Yon is in département 85, in the Pays de la Loire region.

How many French cities does this ranking compare?

1,112, with the top 50 listed in full in the table below.

What are the French cities ranked by private school in 2026?

This ranking uses the most recent official figures published as of 2026: La Roche-sur-Yon leads with 52.3 %.

Is there a complete ranking of French cities ranked by private school?

Yes, the table below: the top 50 of 1,112, each with its département and its region, and the exact method and scope stated underneath it.

In order: La Roche-sur-Yon (52.3 %), Les Sables-d'Olonne (52.3 %), Challans (52.3 %), Montaigu-Vendée (52.3 %), Les Herbiers (52.3 %), Fontenay-le-Comte (52.3 %), Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez (52.3 %), Aizenay (52.3 %), L'Île-d'Yeu (52.3 %), Lorient (51.2 %).

Is this figure really about the city?

No: it is measured for the whole département, and every commune of that département carries the same figure. It is ranked this way because private school is not published commune by commune, and a per-commune count would be almost entirely zeros. Read each row as "this town's département", not "this town".

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Everyday life · Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, indicateurs des collèges

The French cities with the most pupils in private schools (by département)

Name: The French cities with the most pupils in private schools (by département)
Creator: Le Bon Rang
License: https://www.etalab.gouv.fr/licence-ouverte-open-licence/

La Roche-sur-Yon leads on private school, with 52.3 %, then Les Sables-d'Olonne (52.3 %) and Challans (52.3 %).

Could you put La Roche-sur-Yon, Sèvremoine and Vannes in this ranking's order? Le Bon Rang is that game, every day. Play today's game

Private school, 1052 cities shown. The coloured surface is a local average over 34,875 communes, 99.1% of the country's population, weighted by the population of each one. Every commune with a published value counts, not only the towns in the table. 60 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 de l'Éducation nationale, indicateurs des collèges.

Find your town

Top 50 of 1,112 cities
Rank	City	Private school %	Population	Region
1	85 La Roche-sur-Yon	52.3	54,849	Pays de la Loire
2	85 Les Sables-d'Olonne	52.3	49,603	Pays de la Loire
3	85 Challans	52.3	22,943	Pays de la Loire
4	85 Montaigu-Vendée	52.3	21,134	Pays de la Loire
5	85 Les Herbiers	52.3	16,521	Pays de la Loire
6	85 Fontenay-le-Comte	52.3	14,059	Pays de la Loire
7	85 Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez	52.3	13,074	Pays de la Loire
8	85 Aizenay	52.3	10,365	Pays de la Loire
9	85 L'Île-d'Yeu	52.3	4,883	Pays de la Loire
10	56 Lorient	51.2	58,329	Bretagne
11	56 Vannes	51.2	55,790	Bretagne
12	56 Lanester	51.2	23,263	Bretagne
13	56 Ploemeur	51.2	18,872	Bretagne
14	56 Hennebont	51.2	15,910	Bretagne
15	56 Pontivy	51.2	14,640	Bretagne
16	56 Auray	51.2	14,207	Bretagne
17	56 Saint-Avé	51.2	12,470	Bretagne
18	56 Guidel	51.2	12,338	Bretagne
19	56 Ploërmel	51.2	10,163	Bretagne
20	56 Quiberon	51.2	4,876	Bretagne
21	49 Angers	49.9	159,022	Pays de la Loire
22	49 Cholet	49.9	54,404	Pays de la Loire
23	49 Saumur	49.9	26,241	Pays de la Loire
24	49 Sèvremoine	49.9	25,797	Pays de la Loire
25	49 Beaupréau-en-Mauges	49.9	23,989	Pays de la Loire
26	49 Chemillé-en-Anjou	49.9	21,999	Pays de la Loire
27	49 Mauges-sur-Loire	49.9	18,695	Pays de la Loire
28	49 Segré-en-Anjou Bleu	49.9	17,667	Pays de la Loire
29	49 Orée d'Anjou	49.9	17,162	Pays de la Loire
30	49 Loire-Authion	49.9	16,765	Pays de la Loire
31	49 Trélazé	49.9	16,333	Pays de la Loire
32	49 Montrevault-sur-Èvre	49.9	15,726	Pays de la Loire
33	49 Avrillé	49.9	15,251	Pays de la Loire
34	49 Les Ponts-de-Cé	49.9	13,149	Pays de la Loire
35	49 Baugé-en-Anjou	49.9	11,712	Pays de la Loire
36	49 Doué-en-Anjou	49.9	11,029	Pays de la Loire
37	49 Brissac Loire Aubance	49.9	10,878	Pays de la Loire
38	43 Le Puy-en-Velay	46.5	18,540	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
39	29 Brest	43.6	142,346	Bretagne
40	29 Quimper	43.6	64,385	Bretagne
41	29 Concarneau	43.6	20,845	Bretagne
42	29 Landerneau	43.6	16,363	Bretagne
43	29 Guipavas	43.6	15,538	Bretagne
44	29 Morlaix	43.6	15,194	Bretagne
45	29 Douarnenez	43.6	14,068	Bretagne
46	29 Plouzané	43.6	13,567	Bretagne
47	29 Plougastel-Daoulas	43.6	13,434	Bretagne
48	29 Quimperlé	43.6	12,469	Bretagne
49	29 Le Relecq-Kerhuon	43.6	11,897	Bretagne
50	29 Fouesnant	43.6	10,436	Bretagne

The table stops at 50. Search any of the 1,112 ranked towns ↑

The other end : The French cities with the fewest pupils in private schools (by département)

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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.

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.

11 questions about this ranking

What are the 10 French cities ranked by private school?: In order: La Roche-sur-Yon, Les Sables-d'Olonne, Challans, Montaigu-Vendée, Les Herbiers, Fontenay-le-Comte, Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, Aizenay, L'Île-d'Yeu and Lorient.
What is the top 5 of French cities ranked by private school?: La Roche-sur-Yon (52.3 %), Les Sables-d'Olonne (52.3 %), Challans (52.3 %), Montaigu-Vendée (52.3 %) and Les Herbiers (52.3 %).
Which city is 2nd in the ranking of French cities ranked by private school?: Les Sables-d'Olonne, at 52.3 %, just behind La Roche-sur-Yon (52.3 %).
Is La Roche-sur-Yon really the French city ranked first on private school?: Yes, at 52.3 %, ahead of Les Sables-d'Olonne (52.3 %) and Challans (52.3 %).
In which département is La Roche-sur-Yon?: La Roche-sur-Yon is in département 85, in the Pays de la Loire region.
Which city is 10th in the ranking of French cities ranked by private school?: Lorient, at 51.2 %.
How many French cities does this ranking compare?: 1,112, with the top 50 listed in full in the table below.
What are the French cities ranked by private school in 2026?: This ranking uses the most recent official figures published as of 2026: La Roche-sur-Yon leads with 52.3 %.
Is there a complete ranking of French cities ranked by private school?: Yes, the table below: the top 50 of 1,112, each with its département and its region, and the exact method and scope stated underneath it.
What are the top 10?: In order: La Roche-sur-Yon (52.3 %), Les Sables-d'Olonne (52.3 %), Challans (52.3 %), Montaigu-Vendée (52.3 %), Les Herbiers (52.3 %), Fontenay-le-Comte (52.3 %), Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez (52.3 %), Aizenay (52.3 %), L'Île-d'Yeu (52.3 %), Lorient (51.2 %).
Is this figure really about the city?: No: it is measured for the whole département, and every commune of that département carries the same figure. It is ranked this way because private school is not published commune by commune, and a per-commune count would be almost entirely zeros. Read each row as "this town's département", not "this town".

The table below ranks the top 50 of the 1,112 cities in the dataset, each with its département, its region and the figure it is ranked on (private school), 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 fewest pupils in private schools (by département) and Driving test pass rate, French département by département, 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.