biarritz-classement-villes-villages-bon-vivre-le-b

Paris is plummeting in the rankings of the best cities to live in France

undefined undefined undefined 18h00

The Editor

Biarritz © Roaming Pictures / Shuttertsock

With the new year comes a new list of the Cities & Villages where life is good in France. Just like last year, the South-West and Normandy dominate the rankings, while some of the largest cities in the Hexagon, including the capital, are lagging far behind. And it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

The judgment has been made. For this 7th edition, the Villes & Villages association has established its ranking of cities where life is good, and western France has performed almost flawlessly. On the podium, Biarritz and Angers stood out among the 34,727 French municipalities, holding their places on the podium, with not much change compared to last year. Luckily, Annecy has given a lovely boost to the east with a nice 2nd place. 


An Irrefutable Study

In 2025, the Villes & Villages ranking already relied on 190 criteriа firmly spread across 11 different categories. This year, to ensure an even more certain ranking, 11 new criteria have joined the list, bringing the total to over 200. Among the topics studied, we find...and in particular the quality of life, safety, environmental protection, health, businesses and services, transportation, education, sports and leisure, local finances and taxes, solidarity, and even real estate attractiveness. The new categories focus, for example, on questions of mental health, including the presence of psychologists and specialized facilities. Diverse and specific criteria indeed, allowing Biarritz to rise to the top of the ranking for the 2nd consecutive year.


Paris in Freefall

On the flip side, these dozens of categories don't really help the capital shine. It's true that with its delicately polluted air, its gentle honking sounds at all hours of the day and night, and its exorbitant rents through the roof, we weren't exactly expecting miracles. But let's not kid ourselves, we were still surprised to see that Paris didn't even make the top 100, dropping 6 places from last year, with a 107th rank. It's important to keep things in perspective, though—the City of Light is still ahead of Marseille (124), and that makes us a little happy. And let's remember that 107, out of over 34,000 ranked cities, might not be so bad after all!