Contrary to popular belief, it is not metropolises like Paris or Marseille that concentrate the highest density of social services in France. In proportion to its population, this other large city has the most beneficiaries registered with the Family Allowance Fund.
The social protection system has been an integral part of the lives of the French for decades. European champion in terms of redistribution, France has more than 13.8 million beneficiary households receiving at least one legal benefit. Whether it is family allowances to support parents, housing aid to combat poor housing, or the Active Solidarity Income (RSA) for professional integration, many citizens depend on the aid allocated by the CAF. But of course, social coverage is not distributed equitably across the territory: dependence on benefits varies greatly depending on the region. You might think that the larger a city, the more CAF beneficiaries it has, but this is not entirely correct. In proportion to the number of inhabitants, it is not the large metropolises which are at the top of the ranking.
And even if we only take municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, in mainland France as in the DROMs, here again, the large urban centers and their outskirts are surprisingly low in the list. Yes, it’s not the size that matters: Paris, the most populous city with more than two million inhabitants, concentrates 434,430 benefit applications according to 2024 figures from the CAF. But this represents “only” 20.5% of its population. The capital is thus located at 109th place in the ranking, far behind other smaller cities. Ditto for Marseille, which does not even reach the Top 50 with its 66th place. Lyon is placed in 41stth position. But then, which city concentrates the most beneficiaries of social assistance?
It is in fact Poitiers which has, in proportion to its population, the largest number of CAF beneficiaries among the large cities of France. The capital of Vienne lists 33,945 people among its 89,472 inhabitants, a rate of 37.9%. This is explained in particular by the typology of rights paid: the city has a very large proportion of beneficiaries of housing assistance (24,280 inhabitants), often students or low-income households. Next come, to a smaller extent, the beneficiaries of family allowances, i.e. 5,070 Poitevins.
The city is closely followed by Nancy, with a CAF coverage rate of 37.4%, or 39,075 people out of 104,387. Among the ten largest cities in France, only Lille and Montpellier are exceptions in this ranking: they are respectively in third and fifth place, with 37.3% and 35.6% of CAF beneficiaries among their total population. The only town in the DROMs among the Top 15, we find Les Abymes, a town of 51,760 inhabitants located in Guadeloupe, in fourth position. It thus has 36.5% beneficiaries.
In short, this classification turns the neck on preconceived ideas: population density does not systematically rhyme with a higher concentration of social assistance. If large metropolises like Lille or Montpellier are doing well, it is indeed medium-sized cities that occupy the top of the podium. A reality which proves that the geography of precariousness and social support in France is much more complex and nuanced than one might believe.
