Cities where it is good to live for seniors: why Rodez fell from first to 73rd place in the ranking

1^is in 2023, 73^e in 2024… This year, the ranking of cities in France for aging in good health, or now entitled “where is it good to live for seniors”, produced by the newspaper Le Figaro, no longer really puts Rodez in the spotlight. In it, 817 cities with less than 40,000 inhabitants are compared on 35 different criteria in broad themes such as health of course, but also culture, sport and even security.

If the Piton remains at the top of the basket by ranking in the top 100, this is nothing comparable to the first place obtained last year. So, what could have happened in one year to see such a drop in the rankings? Above all, this is a change in the methodology of this study. In 2023, Rodez was opposed to 450 municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants, when this time, it is in competition with towns with less than 40,000 inhabitants.

Villefranche-de-Rouergue at 30^e place

Likewise, while the last ranking was based on 22 criteria, this edition is based on 35. This explains this difference according to the City. “This change in criteria as well as the evolution of the methodology disrupts the ranking, but it is not the quality of life in Rodez that has decreased”we answer.

In Aveyron this year, Villefranche-de-Rouergue is the winner, ranking 30^e. Millau, 8th last year, also fell, but still rose ahead of the Aveyron prefecture, at 57^e place.

It was enough for the opposition to react. “This ranking should call us to modesty, and demonstrates that long-term work must be carried out to maintain quality of life in Rodez”write the elected representatives of the Rodez group in common, Sarah Vidal, Arnaud Combet, Jean-Michel Cosson and Mathilde Faux. Perhaps also an opportunity to take a step back from these studies, where the evolution of a few criteria can completely disrupt the order of classification.