Houlgate is older than 99% of compared French towns: a median age of 63.5
In Houlgate, 56% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. 62% of homes are flats. At 7.2%, the share of single-parent households is lower than in 88% of compared French towns. Its 1,050 households held 1,834 residents at the 2023 Census.
Throughout this page, the Calvados 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 Houlgate
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 4,080 second homes and occasional dwellings in Houlgate, 79% of its 5,180 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 32% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Houlgate’s residents are under 63.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 47% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Houlgate had 2,043 residents at the 2012 census and 1,834 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Houlgate’s households are one person: higher than in 89% of compared French towns; 33% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Houlgate, 79% of homes are second homes, more than in 99% 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
Where just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Houlgate has 10%. 1.1% of homes stand empty, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 9% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 13%.
Houlgate changed by −10% from 2012 to 2023, behind 97% 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 −8%, and from 2017 to 2023 −2%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Calvados town +1%.
In Houlgate, 47% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 99% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Houlgate 63.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 6.6% of residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Calvados 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Only 10% of households are couples with children in Houlgate
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 Calvados median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 1.8 people. On average, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. At 47%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 89% of compared French towns.
A typical living standard of €27,680 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 median standard of living in Houlgate is €27,680 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 68% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 11.0% of the population.
Houlgate ranks below 94% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 6%
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 the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%; Houlgate has 7.2%. Households headed by a manual worker: 14% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of foreign nationals than 87% of compared French towns, at 1.5%
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.
Immigrants make up 3.9%, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Calvados has 3.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in nearly three quarters of compared French towns. Foreign nationals make up 4.3% in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 81% of compared French towns: 48%
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
The share of single residents is 23%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
32% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 55% of compared French towns
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
On the census count, 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 1,834 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Houlgate (63.5).
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 1 are older than Houlgate
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houlgate | 63.5 | 47% | 79% | 3.9% |
| Dives-sur-Mer 5,122 · 1.5 mi | 53.8 | 33% | 42% | 3% |
| Cabourg 3,725 · 2.5 mi | 63.9 | 48% | 79% | 4.1% |
| Deauville 3,539 · 7.7 mi | 63.3 | 47% | 73% | 7.2% |
| Ouistreham 9,212 · 8.7 mi | 56.3 | 36% | 25% | 2.8% |
| Touques 3,913 · 8.7 mi | 49.8 | 29% | 23% | 7.3% |
| Trouville-sur-Mer 4,619 · 8.9 mi | 59.5 | 42% | 70% | 8% |
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 Houlgate
What is the population of Houlgate?
1,834 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (2,043).
How old are Houlgate’s residents?
The median age is 63.5, older than 99% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 47% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Houlgate?
4,080, with occasional dwellings: 79% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Houlgate?
INSEE counts 72 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.9% of residents, and 27 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Houlgate?
€27,680 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 11.0% 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.