Photo: Myst · CC BY-SA 3.0Vitrolles ranks above 96% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 15%
18% of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%). The 2023 Census put Vitrolles’s population at 36,758, in 15,210 households. Here, just over a quarter of households rent social housing (HLM). More flats than in 83% of compared French towns: 59%.
Throughout this page, the Bouches-du-Rhône 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.
Since 2012, Vitrolles has grown +5%, faster than 53% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −4%, and from 2017 to 2023 +10%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Bouches-du-Rhône town +6%.
Vitrolles is younger than 80% of compared French towns: a median age of 39.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vitrolles 39.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 here.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Bouches-du-Rhône 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Above 65% of compared French towns: 28% of households are couples with children
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 Bouches-du-Rhône median and the France median
Living alone · share
Here nearly a third of households are one person living alone, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 35%. On average, 2.4 people share a household. As a yardstick, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
Empty homes make up 4.9% in Vitrolles, less than in 76% 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
There is little gap on second homes: 1.3%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Newcomers of less than two years account for 8.5% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 20%.
The median resident lives on €24,670 a year per consumption unit
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 €24,670 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 64% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 19.6% of residents.
A higher share of households headed by a manager or professional than 63% of compared French towns, at 12%
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
In Vitrolles, 30% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. Census figures put households headed by a manual worker at 14% here. Households headed by a manager or professional make up 9.4% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Vitrolles, 11% of residents are immigrants, more than in 74% of compared French towns
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.
The median compared commune in Bouches-du-Rhône has 6.3%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in nearly three quarters of compared French towns. Immigrants make up 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Foreign nationals: 5.6% of the total.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A higher share of single residents than 72% of compared French towns, at 28%
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
In Vitrolles, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A larger share of adults with no qualification than 67% of compared French towns: 22%
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
For Vitrolles, the census puts graduates of higher education at 31%. Against that, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 16th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 29.9 in Saint-Martin-d'Hères to 58.9 in Saint-Raphaël.
Every neighbor is older than Vitrolles
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitrolles | 39.8 | 18% | 1.3% | 11% |
| Saint-Victoret 6,730 · 1.9 mi | 43.6 | 21% | 0.3% | 5.6% |
| Marignane 33,692 · 2.8 mi | 42 | 20% | 1.4% | 11% |
| Gignac-la-Nerthe 10,343 · 3.8 mi | 42.6 | 21% | 0.7% | 6.3% |
| Rognac 12,576 · 3.8 mi | 43.2 | 21% | 0.6% | 5.5% |
| Les Pennes-Mirabeau 22,537 · 4.6 mi | 44.2 | 23% | 1.3% | 4.2% |
| Le Rove 5,246 · 5.1 mi | 44.6 | 24% | 7.6% | 2.9% |
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 Vitrolles
What is the population of Vitrolles?
36,758 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (34,843).
How old are Vitrolles’ residents?
The median age is 39.8, younger than 80% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vitrolles?
210, with occasional dwellings: 1.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vitrolles?
INSEE counts 3,980 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 2,070 foreign nationals (5.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vitrolles?
€24,670 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 19.6% of residents live below the poverty line. 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 9, 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.