Largest city in Grand Est: the 2026 ranking
The largest cities in Grand Est and its 10 departments compared by population, area and density, based on the official INSEE population figures in force in 2026.
The largest city in Grand Est is Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), with 296,552 inhabitants, ranked 8th in France by population, ahead of Reims (180,733) and Metz (124,396).
Grand Est has 5,115 communes and 5,664,044 inhabitants over 57,441 km², or 8.2% of the French population, with a density of 99 inhabitants per km² (national average: 110). The region was created in 2016 by merging the former regions of Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine and Alsace. Its most populous department is Bas-Rhin (1,178,940 inhabitants), and its least populous is Haute-Marne (172,981).
Departments of Grand Est
| Department | Towns | Population | km² | per km² | Largest city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bas-Rhin (67) | 514 | 1,178,940 | 4,755 | 248 | Strasbourg (296,552) |
| Moselle (57) | 725 | 1,068,899 | 6,216 | 172 | Metz (124,396) |
| Haut-Rhin (68) | 366 | 784,356 | 3,525 | 223 | Mulhouse (106,083) |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | 591 | 743,353 | 5,246 | 142 | Nancy (104,988) |
| Marne (51) | 610 | 574,142 | 8,169 | 70 | Reims (180,733) |
| Vosges (88) | 506 | 367,295 | 5,874 | 63 | Épinal (33,395) |
| Aube (10) | 431 | 317,296 | 6,004 | 53 | Troyes (63,254) |
| Ardennes (08) | 447 | 271,604 | 5,229 | 52 | Charleville-Mézières (46,473) |
| Meuse (55) | 499 | 185,178 | 6,211 | 30 | Verdun (17,786) |
| Haute-Marne (52) | 426 | 172,981 | 6,211 | 28 | Saint-Dizier (23,281) |
The 20 largest cities in Grand Est by population
| # | Town | Department | Population | km² | per km² | France rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strasbourg | Bas-Rhin (67) | 296,552 | 78 | 3,789 | 8th |
| 2 | Reims | Marne (51) | 180,733 | 47 | 3,854 | 13th |
| 3 | Metz | Moselle (57) | 124,396 | 42 | 2,966 | 31st |
| 4 | Mulhouse | Haut-Rhin (68) | 106,083 | 22 | 4,783 | 41st |
| 5 | Nancy | Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | 104,988 | 15 | 6,995 | 42nd |
| 6 | Colmar | Haut-Rhin (68) | 68,013 | 67 | 1,022 | 79th |
| 7 | Troyes | Aube (10) | 63,254 | 13 | 4,792 | 91st |
| 8 | Charleville-Mézières | Ardennes (08) | 46,473 | 31 | 1,478 | 157th |
| 9 | Châlons-en-Champagne | Marne (51) | 43,914 | 26 | 1,686 | 175th |
| 10 | Thionville | Moselle (57) | 43,398 | 50 | 870 | 180th |
| 11 | Haguenau | Bas-Rhin (67) | 36,899 | 183 | 202 | 225th |
| 12 | Schiltigheim | Bas-Rhin (67) | 34,922 | 7.6 | 4,577 | 240th |
| 13 | Épinal | Vosges (88) | 33,395 | 59 | 564 | 251st |
| 14 | Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy | Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | 30,204 | 9.5 | 3,193 | 292nd |
| 15 | Illkirch-Graffenstaden | Bas-Rhin (67) | 28,336 | 22 | 1,276 | 313th |
| 16 | Saint-Dizier | Haute-Marne (52) | 23,281 | 48 | 488 | 398th |
| 17 | Saint-Louis | Haut-Rhin (68) | 23,072 | 17 | 1,369 | 403rd |
| 18 | Épernay | Marne (51) | 22,628 | 23 | 997 | 411th |
| 19 | Montigny-lès-Metz | Moselle (57) | 22,065 | 6.7 | 3,293 | 426th |
| 20 | Chaumont | Haute-Marne (52) | 21,889 | 55 | 396 | 434th |
Largest towns by area in Grand Est
| # | Town | Department | Population | km² | per km² | France rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haguenau | Bas-Rhin (67) | 36,899 | 183 | 202 | 51st |
| 2 | Châteauvillain | Haute-Marne (52) | 1,504 | 106 | 14 | 201st |
| 3 | Colombey les Deux Églises | Haute-Marne (52) | 677 | 84 | 8 | 364th |
| 4 | Strasbourg | Bas-Rhin (67) | 296,552 | 78 | 3,789 | 429th |
| 5 | Val-de-Meuse | Haute-Marne (52) | 1,846 | 77 | 24 | 444th |
| 6 | Rives Dervoises | Haute-Marne (52) | 1,343 | 77 | 18 | 446th |
| 7 | Aix-Villemaur-Pâlis | Aube (10) | 3,274 | 75 | 43 | 462nd |
| 8 | Le Val-d'Ajol | Vosges (88) | 3,971 | 73 | 54 | 485th |
| 9 | Piney | Aube (10) | 1,405 | 71 | 20 | 521st |
| 10 | Auberive | Haute-Marne (52) | 168 | 71 | 2 | 528th |
Most densely populated towns in Grand Est
| # | Town | Department | Population | km² | per km² | France rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nancy | Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | 104,988 | 15 | 6,995 | 83rd |
| 2 | Saint-Max | Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | 9,989 | 1.9 | 5,399 | 128th |
| 3 | Troyes | Aube (10) | 63,254 | 13 | 4,792 | 151st |
| 4 | Mulhouse | Haut-Rhin (68) | 106,083 | 22 | 4,783 | 153rd |
| 5 | Schiltigheim | Bas-Rhin (67) | 34,922 | 7.6 | 4,577 | 161st |
| 6 | Les Noës-près-Troyes | Aube (10) | 3,297 | 0.7 | 4,516 | 165th |
| 7 | Bischheim | Bas-Rhin (67) | 18,797 | 4.4 | 4,262 | 182nd |
| 8 | Jarville-la-Malgrange | Meurthe-et-Moselle (54) | 9,567 | 2.4 | 3,937 | 202nd |
| 9 | Reims | Marne (51) | 180,733 | 47 | 3,854 | 208th |
| 10 | Strasbourg | Bas-Rhin (67) | 296,552 | 78 | 3,789 | 213th |
Other regions of France
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Brittany Centre-Val de Loire Corsica Guadeloupe French Guiana Hauts-de-France Île-de-France Réunion Martinique Normandy Nouvelle-Aquitaine Occitanie Pays de la Loire Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Sources: INSEE, official population figures in force on January 1, 2026 (total population); land area: IGN / Observatoire des territoires. Rankings computed across the 34,858 communes in the database.