Flats: 0.3%, a lower share than 99% of compared French towns
The figure for single-parent households is 5.2% in Val-de-Vie and 10% in the typical compared French town. Two in five households are headed by a retired person, a higher share than in 82% of compared French towns. The town counted 502 residents and 210 households at the 2023 Census. Households without a car: 2.8% of the total.
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 Val-de-Vie
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 61 second homes and occasional dwellings in Val-de-Vie, 21% of its 290 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Val-de-Vie had 545 residents at the 2012 census and 502 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Val-de-Vie’s residents are under 52.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 93% of compared French towns: 21%
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
5.8% of households moved in less than two years ago; 28% have been in their home 30 years or more. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of second homes is 2.1%. On empty homes, 6.2% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town.
Slower growth than 94% of compared French towns: Val-de-Vie changed by −8% since 2012
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 compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Calvados town +1%.
Older than 90% of compared French towns: half of Val-de-Vie is over 52.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Val-de-Vie 52.5. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 8%, Val-de-Vie is behind 93% of compared French towns on that count. For Val-de-Vie, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 29%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Calvados 52.0%, France 51.8%.
22% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 98% of compared French towns
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
Each household has 2.4 people on average. Against that, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Just over a quarter of households are couples with children, against 25% in the typical compared French town.
A median standard of living of €25,560 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.
Half of residents live in households above €25,560 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 54% of compared French towns.
Val-de-Vie: 20% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 84% 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
Against a figure of 9.4% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional in Val-de-Vie comes in at 7.6%. In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
2% of residents are immigrants, below 91% 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.
Here 0.8% of residents are foreign nationals, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Val-de-Vie ranks above 99% of compared French towns on married residents: 57%
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 the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Val-de-Vie has 18%. On average, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
More adults with no qualification than 90% of compared French towns: 30%
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
21% of Val-de-Vie’s residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 30% have no diploma (19%).
Of 41 French towns its size (502 to 2,582 people), the 8th oldest
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 Prayssac (62.3).
A younger town than 1 of the 6 around it: Val-de-Vie
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Val-de-Vie | 52.5 | 29% | 21% | 2% |
| Vimoutiers 2,978 · 2.7 mi | 60.1 | 43% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| Livarot-Pays-d'Auge 6,207 · 4.1 mi | 46.1 | 25% | 16% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Pierre-en-Auge 7,100 · 8.5 mi | 49.7 | 29% | 7.8% | 2.8% |
| Gouffern en Auge 3,636 · 12.7 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 11% | 3.1% |
| Mézidon Vallée d'Auge 9,766 · 12.7 mi | 40.9 | 20% | 6.8% | 1.8% |
| Lisieux 19,645 · 13.4 mi | 47 | 28% | 2.1% | 6.2% |
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 Val-de-Vie
What is the population of Val-de-Vie?
502 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (545).
How old are Val-de-Vie’s residents?
The median age is 52.5, older than 90% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Val-de-Vie?
61, with occasional dwellings: 21% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Val-de-Vie?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Val-de-Vie?
€25,560 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 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.