What is the best-known city in Pays de la Loire?

Nantes, at 427,644, ahead of Angers (293,269).

What is the least-known city in Pays de la Loire?

Montaigu-Vendée, at 7,659. 56 cities of Pays de la Loire are measured here.

Where does Nantes stand in France?

5 of the 1,131 French cities measured on popularity. The national ranking is on its own page.

Which cities lead in Pays de la Loire?

Nantes (427,644), Angers (293,269), Le Mans (237,184), Pornic (141,184), Laval (137,132). The whole table is on this page.

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The best-known cities in Pays de la Loire

Nantes is the best-known city in Pays de la Loire, at 427,644, ahead of Angers (293,269) and Le Mans (237,184). At the other end, Montaigu-Vendée is the least-known city, at 7,659.

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The 56 cities of Pays de la Loire ranked on popularity
Rank	City	Popularity	Population
1	44 Nantes	427,644	327,734
2	49 Angers	293,269	159,022
3	72 Le Mans	237,184	146,249
4	44 Pornic	141,184	18,745
5	53 Laval	137,132	49,400
6	85 La Roche-sur-Yon	134,751	54,849
7	44 Saint-Nazaire	134,412	74,568
8	49 Cholet	126,016	54,404
9	49 Saumur	121,704	26,241
10	85 Les Sables-d'Olonne	117,142	49,603
11	44 La Baule-Escoublac	93,053	16,912
12	44 Guérande	74,756	16,804
13	72 La Flèche	68,369	14,947
14	85 Fontenay-le-Comte	65,257	14,059
15	53 Mayenne	62,448	12,883
16	44 Châteaubriant	57,332	12,260
17	85 Challans	41,329	22,943
18	44 Pornichet	39,452	12,800
19	44 Saint-Brevin-les-Pins	37,866	14,541
20	85 Les Herbiers	36,215	16,521
21	72 Sablé-sur-Sarthe	33,190	12,326
22	44 Rezé	32,006	43,556
23	85 Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez	30,663	13,074
24	44 Saint-Herblain	28,303	50,973
25	49 Segré-en-Anjou Bleu	23,923	17,667
26	44 Vertou	22,788	26,227
27	44 Carquefou	22,322	20,921
28	44 Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire	21,786	28,596
29	49 Chemillé-en-Anjou	20,049	21,999
30	44 Pontchâteau	19,564	11,474
31	49 Trélazé	19,556	16,333
32	49 Beaupréau-en-Mauges	18,963	23,989
33	44 Couëron	18,351	24,103
34	49 Les Ponts-de-Cé	18,314	13,149
35	85 L'Île-d'Yeu	18,012	4,883
36	44 Orvault	17,473	28,534
37	44 Blain	17,432	10,376
38	44 La Chapelle-sur-Erdre	15,958	20,690
39	44 Bouguenais	15,377	20,530
40	49 Mauges-sur-Loire	15,115	18,695
41	49 Avrillé	14,774	15,251
42	49 Baugé-en-Anjou	14,597	11,712
43	49 Orée d'Anjou	13,843	17,162
44	49 Sèvremoine	13,814	25,797
45	44 Ancenis-Saint-Géréon	12,659	11,600
46	85 Aizenay	12,032	10,365
47	44 Sainte-Luce-sur-Loire	10,704	16,400
48	49 Loire-Authion	10,119	16,765
49	72 Allonnes	10,118	10,739
50	44 Treillières	9,834	10,600
51	49 Doué-en-Anjou	9,740	11,029
52	44 Thouaré-sur-Loire	9,524	11,004
53	49 Montrevault-sur-Èvre	9,187	15,726
54	53 Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne	8,398	16,584
55	49 Brissac Loire Aubance	8,190	10,878
56	85 Montaigu-Vendée	7,659	21,134

Every city of Pays de la Loire →

The same ranking for the whole of France : The best-known cities in France on Wikipedia · The least-known cities in France on Wikipedia

The best-known cities in, elsewhere

The other rankings of Pays de la Loire

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.

4 questions about this ranking

What is the best-known city in Pays de la Loire?: Nantes, at 427,644, ahead of Angers (293,269).
What is the least-known city in Pays de la Loire?: Montaigu-Vendée, at 7,659. 56 cities of Pays de la Loire are measured here.
Where does Nantes stand in France?: 5 of the 1,131 French cities measured on popularity. The national ranking is on its own page.
Which cities lead in Pays de la Loire?: Nantes (427,644), Angers (293,269), Le Mans (237,184), Pornic (141,184), Laval (137,132). The whole table is on this page.