It’s inside Ile-de-France where there is more poor manaccording to the 2022 edition of the the Poverty Observatory. But where are these 1.2 million poor people? 20 minutes invites you to discover the ranking of cities with 20,000 inhabitants that have the highest rates of poverty, by department (see end of article).
Good to know first of all: the poverty level is defined here as 60% of the median standard of living, i.e. 60% of 1,880 euros (1,880 is the median because half of the population lives on less than this income). This is a poverty level of 1,128 euros per month. This therefore means that in Melun, where there is a poverty rate of 25%, a quarter of the population lives on less than 1,128 euros a month.
Grigny and Clichy-sous-Bois, “champions” of Ile-de-France
On the podium of the cities of Ile-de-France with the highest rate of poverty, two “champions” (sad champions) undoubtedly stand out: Grigny in Essonne and Clichy-sous-Bois in Seine-Saint-Denis, with respective rates of 44% and 42%. Conversely, cities such as Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt (Yvelines) and Gif-sur-Yvette (Essonne) are not only the cities where there is least poverty in the region, but also in all of France (with 5% poverty, but could actually have a lower rate, since INSEE does not count points lower than 5%).
without surprise, is in Seine-Saint-Denis where we find the cities with the highest poverty rates. With 283,000 inhabitants living on less than 940 euros a month (for the departments, the report uses a poverty line located this time at 50% of the median standard of living), it is the department of France which has the largest number of poor people. Of the 20 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants in France where the poverty rate is highest, six are located in Seine-Saint-Denis. In Clichy-sous-Bois, for example, the average standard of living is 1,200 euros and the poorest 10% are satisfied with 679 euros a month.
“Seine-Saint-Denis is an extraordinary department from this point of view, poverty is widespread, and a few kilometers from the beautiful districts of Paris or the Hauts-de-Seine. We have there the quintessence of territorial inequalities ”, comments he a 20 minutes Anne Brunner, one of the directors of the report, with Louis Maurin.
When poverty rhymes with dynamism
If we consider the number of poor people rather than the poverty rate, it is in the capital that we find the largest number of people living on less than 1,128 euros a month, the report specifies. In the end, that’s 307,000 people out of a population of 2.2 million. Difficult, especially when you know the rental price!
It should be noted that the poverty rate is not necessarily a sign of inattention by local public authorities. “The poverty rate can be a sign of dynamism, for example in Paris. Because the city offers many jobs and you can leave your country or region to go to Paris,” reports Anne Brunner.
Grigny, another example, it continues to be cited as one of the poorest cities in France, because it has a very large number of social housing, according to Anne Brunner. Its population does not stagnate in poverty, it is replaced by new people who benefit from these opportunities.
Pockets of poverty
Finally, looking at the ranking at an even closer level, that of arrondissements or neighborhoods, we can find cities that have relatively low overall poverty rates but significant pockets of poverty. This is the case in Paris, where this rate averages 15%.but where it reaches 48% in some districts, such as that of Folie-Méricourt, in the 11th.
If we examine the whole of Ile-de-France, it is in Argenteuil and Bezons in the Val-d’Oise that we find the neighborhoods with the highest poverty rate in the region, precisely in Justice-Butte Blanche, which is one of the 1,500 “ priority neighborhoods of the city” in France, as the administration calls these neighborhoods with low-income population. It concentrates almost 65% of the poor.
Contrary to the image of “cities” that we sometimes have when we think of less fortunate places, the poorest neighborhoods in France are not in Ile-de-France but… in the south, especially in Nice, Carpentras, Nîmes and especially Perpignan.
The 5 cities of Seine-Saint-Denis with the highest poverty rate:
Clichy-sous-Bois: 42%
Auberville: 41%
Courneuve: 41%
Pierrefitte-sur-Seine: 39%
Saint Denis: 37%
The 5 communes of Val-de-Marne with the highest poverty rate:
Villeneuve-Saint-Georges: 34%
Ivry-sur-Seine: 27%
Vitry-sur-Seine: 24%
Paris: 23%
Choisy-le-Roi: 22%
The five cities of Hauts-de-Seine with the highest poverty rate:
Geneville: 27%
Villeneuve-la-Garenne: 25%
Clichés : 23 %
Nanterre: 21%
Bagneux: 19%
The five towns of the Yvelines with the highest poverty rate:
Mantes-la-Jolie: 32%
Hatches: 26%
Le Mureaux: 25%
Mantes-la-Ville: 21%
Poissy: 15%
The five cities of Essonne with the highest poverty rate:
Gray : 44%
Corbeil-Essonnes: 27%
Every Courcouronnes: 24%
Rice-Orange: 23%
Ulis: 21%
The five cities of Val-d’Oise with the highest poverty rate:
Garges-les-Gonesse: 38%
Villiers-le-Bel: 35%
Teal: 34%
Silver: 27%
Goussainville: 27%
The five cities of Seine-et-Marne with the highest poverty rate:
Melon: 25%
Dammarie les Lys: 21%
Meaux: 21%
Torch: 18%
Libra: 15%
