Mérignat sits below 99% of compared French towns for households without a car (1.7%)
Here 11% of homes are flats, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. At the 2023 Census, 129 people lived in Mérignat, in 61 households. About one in 12: that is how common households headed by a manual worker are in Mérignat (8.3%). Single-parent households are rarer here than in just over three quarters of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Ain median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
What stands out about the people of Mérignat
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 17 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mérignat, 18% of its 92 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 94% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Mérignat’s households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 39% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 14 homes empty (15%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
A young town
Half of Mérignat’s residents are under 38.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 17% are under 15 and 14% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Mérignat, 18% of homes are second homes, more than in 93% of compared French towns
Every home the census counted: main residences, second homes and occasional dwellings (INSEE counts them together), and empty homes. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
All homes · share of homes
Type of home
Cars per household · share of households
Here 6.7% of households rent social housing (HLM), where the figure in the typical compared French town is 12%. Typically, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. 15% of homes stand empty, or about one in seven.
Slower than most: −1% since 2012, behind 73% of compared French towns
Residents at INSEE’s last three censuses, each recast in the 2026 commune boundaries. France has no yearly estimate by commune between censuses.
2012 to 2023
2017 to 2023
The median Ain town changed +13% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought ±0% and the next six −1%.
Only 14% of residents are 65 or over in Mérignat
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mérignat 38.7. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Mérignat is 38.7, lower than in 85% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 15 to 24 come to 12% locally, about one in ten.
Women and men · all residents
42% women, 58% men
About 73 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 94% of compared French towns: 50%
A household is everyone who shares a main home (résidence principale). Household types come from INSEE’s fuller sample of a quarter of census forms.
Against the Ain median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2.1 people in the average household. In the typical compared French town, just over a third of households are one person living alone. 25% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 51% of compared French towns.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €22,700 a year
The standard of living (niveau de vie) is a household’s disposable income after taxes and benefits, divided by its consumption units (UC) to allow for its size and make-up: 1 for the first adult, 0.5 for each other person 14 or older, 0.3 for each child under 14.
Medians of compared communes. Source: INSEE, Filosofi 2023.
The midpoint of living standards here is €22,700 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 84% of compared French towns.
25% of households are headed by a retired person, below 83% of compared French towns
Households by the socio-professional group (PCS) of their reference person, INSEE’s own categories. Jobs and commuting are on the Work & commute page.
Households by reference person’s group · share of households
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The benchmark for households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town: 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 80% of compared French towns: 3.2% of residents are immigrants
INSEE publishes two measures, which overlap but aren’t the same. Neither is the UK’s “born abroad”.
Share of residents · census 2023
Immigrant (immigré)
Born abroad, not French at birth. Someone stays an immigrant after becoming French. A French citizen born abroad (for example in Algeria before 1962) is not one.
Foreign national (étranger)
Not a French citizen today, wherever born. A child born in France to foreign parents can be a foreign national without being an immigrant.
Foreign nationals: 2.4% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Ain has 8.5%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 80% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of married residents than 85% of compared French towns, at 37%
Residents 15 and over by how they live: the census asks both the legal status and whether people live as a couple.
Residents 15 and over · share
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, nearly a third of residents 15 and over are single in Mérignat. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
A larger share of graduates of higher education than 81% of compared French towns: 41%
Highest diploma of residents 15 and over who have left education, in French terms: the levels don’t map one-to-one to UK or U.S. ones.
Highest diploma · 15 and over, out of education
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Mérignat comes in at 14%. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 129 to 2,582 people: this is the 2nd youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
5 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Mérignat
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mérignat | 38.7 | 14% | 18% | 3.2% |
| Pont-d'Ain 2,843 · 4.7 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 4.1% | 8.7% |
| Ambronay 2,841 · 6 mi | 42.1 | 19% | 2.9% | 3.3% |
| Ambérieu-en-Bugey 15,934 · 8.7 mi | 37.5 | 18% | 1.4% | 13% |
| Ceyzériat 3,328 · 9.5 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 2.7% | 4.2% |
| Nantua 3,416 · 9.9 mi | 42.3 | 23% | 3.6% | 27% |
| Montréal-la-Cluse 3,568 · 10.2 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 2.2% | 23% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Census 2023. INSEE’s census is a rolling survey: a fifth of small communes each year, 8% of homes in large ones each year. “2023” pools the surveys of 2021 to 2025, so the figures describe the town around 2023, not on one day.
- Medians of compared communes. The comparisons are the median of the département’s compared communes and of France’s (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median: not the total for the département or for France, which large cities pull towards their own figures.
- Immigrants and foreign nationals. INSEE’s two measures: an immigrant was born abroad without French nationality; a foreign national isn’t French today. Neither is a count of people born abroad, which INSEE doesn’t publish by commune.
- Second homes. Homes used for holidays or weekends, with occasional dwellings (kept for work, for example), which INSEE counts together. Their owners are counted where they live, not here.
- Standard of living. INSEE’s Filosofi: disposable income per consumption unit, from tax and benefit files, 2023. The poverty rate is the share of residents below 60% of France’s median. Not published for the smallest communes.
- What France doesn’t ask. The French census asks nothing about ethnicity, religion, language or health, so this page has no such section.
Questions about who lives in Mérignat
What is the population of Mérignat?
129 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (130).
How old are Mérignat’s residents?
The median age is 38.7, younger than 85% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mérignat?
17, with occasional dwellings: 18% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mérignat?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.2% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (2.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mérignat?
€22,700 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). Source: INSEE, Filosofi.
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, ages, households, homes, marital status, diplomas, immigrants, foreign nationals, employment), 2026 geography · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (standard of living, poverty) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 4, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.