2026 ranking · sunshine

The sunniest large cities in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (20,000+ inhabitants)

Q: What is the sunniest large city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes?

Montélimar (Drôme) is the sunniest large city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, with 2,441 hours of sunshine a year on average.

Montélimar (Drôme) is the sunniest large city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, with 2,441 hours of sunshine a year on average. Next come Aurillac (Cantal, 2,146 hours a year) and Voiron (Isère, 2,108 hours a year).

29 towns ranked out of 4,025

Montélimar, 1^stThe next 19

The podium

Photos: © W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0 · © B.navez, CC BY-SA 3.0

This ranking covers 29 of the 4,025 towns in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Not ranked: towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants and towns without a Météo-France station within 30 km and 300 m of elevation. At the other end of the ranking, Vichy (Allier) comes last with 1,892 hours a year.

In France, a commune is the smallest unit of local government, from large cities to tiny villages. Paris, Lyon and Marseille are ranked as whole communes: their arrondissements (districts) have no rank of their own.

The ranking: sunniest large cities in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Rank	Town	Department	Hours of sunshine per year	Population
1	Montélimar	Drôme (26)	2,441	41,752
2	Aurillac	Cantal (15)	2,146	27,578
3	Voiron	Isère (38)	2,108	22,415
4	Annecy	Haute-Savoie (74)	2,069	134,985
5 tied	Lyon	Rhône (69)	2,050	525,314
5 tied	Villeurbanne	Rhône (69)	2,050	164,747
5 tied	Vénissieux	Rhône (69)	2,050	65,689
5 tied	Vaulx-en-Velin	Rhône (69)	2,050	53,281
5 tied	Saint-Priest	Rhône (69)	2,050	49,498
5 tied	Caluire-et-Cuire	Rhône (69)	2,050	44,139
5 tied	Bron	Rhône (69)	2,050	43,369
5 tied	Oullins-Pierre-Bénite	Rhône (69)	2,050	38,495
5 tied	Meyzieu	Rhône (69)	2,050	37,006
5 tied	Vienne	Isère (38)	2,050	32,216
5 tied	Rillieux-la-Pape	Rhône (69)	2,050	31,691
5 tied	Décines-Charpieu	Rhône (69)	2,050	30,064
5 tied	Tassin-la-Demi-Lune	Rhône (69)	2,050	23,514
5 tied	Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon	Rhône (69)	2,050	22,045
5 tied	Saint-Genis-Laval	Rhône (69)	2,050	21,661
5 tied	Givors	Rhône (69)	2,050	21,503
21 tied	Saint-Étienne	Loire (42)	2,018	174,698
21 tied	Saint-Chamond	Loire (42)	2,018	36,065
23	Bourg-en-Bresse	Ain (01)	1,989	43,961
24 tied	Clermont-Ferrand	Puy-de-Dôme (63)	1,958	148,795
24 tied	Cournon-d'Auvergne	Puy-de-Dôme (63)	1,958	20,341
26	Bourgoin-Jallieu	Isère (38)	1,947	30,773
27 tied	Chambéry	Savoie (73)	1,895	61,493
27 tied	Aix-les-Bains	Savoie (73)	1,895	32,944
29	Vichy	Allier (03)	1,892	25,445

Source: Météo-France, climate data sheets (30-year normals); average annual hours of sunshine at the reference station, cities with 20,000 or more inhabitants. Not ranked: towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants and towns without a Météo-France station within 30 km and 300 m of elevation. Tied values share the same rank. Data sources.

FAQ

Sunniest large cities in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: FAQ

What is the sunniest large city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes?

Montélimar (Drôme) is the sunniest large city in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, with 2,441 hours of sunshine a year on average.

What are the 10 sunniest large cities in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes?

In order: Montélimar (2,441 hours a year), Aurillac (2,146 hours a year), Voiron (2,108 hours a year), Annecy (2,069 hours a year), Lyon (2,050 hours a year), Villeurbanne (2,050 hours a year), Vénissieux (2,050 hours a year), Vaulx-en-Velin (2,050 hours a year), Saint-Priest (2,050 hours a year), and Caluire-et-Cuire (2,050 hours a year).

How many towns in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes are ranked?

29 out of 4,025. Not ranked: towns with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants and towns without a Météo-France station within 30 km and 300 m of elevation.

Where do these figures come from?

They are Météo-France climate normals (30-year averages), recorded at the weather station closest to the town hall, no more than 30 km away and within 300 m of elevation: towns linked to the same station share the same value and are tied. Towns without a station close enough are not ranked. Only cities with 20,000 or more inhabitants are ranked here; towns with 2,000 or more inhabitants appear in the sunniest cities ranking.