A larger share of couples with children than 99% of compared French towns: 40%
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 4.5% of homes are flats here. Lower than in 94% of compared French towns: 4% of households have no car. 121 residents in 50 households: that is Mentières at the 2023 Census. On the census count, nearly one in ten homes stand empty.
Throughout this page, the Cantal 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 Mentières
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 11 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mentières, 16% of its 67 homes: higher than in 92% 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 ↓
A town of families
40% of households are couples with children and 10% single parents with children; 15% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Mentières: 16% of homes are second homes, above 92% 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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Some 6% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 36% who have been there 30 years or more.
From 2012 to 2023, 77% of compared French towns grew faster than Mentières: −2%
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
In two steps, +3% to 2017 and −5% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −3% in Cantal.
Older than 76% of compared French towns: half of Mentières is over 48.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mentières 48.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Across Mentières, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over. On residents aged 15 to 24, 11% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cantal 53.4%, France 51.8%.
A lower share of one-person households than 99% of compared French towns, at 20%
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 Cantal median and the France median
Living alone · share
The typical household size is 2.4 people. Across Mentières, 10% of households are single parents. As a yardstick, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €25,840 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.
Living standards centre on €25,840 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 51% of compared French towns.
Mentières sits below 64% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (30%)
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 manual worker are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For households headed by a retired person, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Mentières ranks below 99% of compared French towns on immigrants: 0.8%
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.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Mentières ranks below 89% of compared French towns on single residents: 20%
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
Married residents make up 49%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 97% of compared French towns: 9.2%
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
The share of graduates of higher education trails 87% of compared French towns: 19%.
41 French towns of 121 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Every neighbor is older than Mentières
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mentières | 48.4 | 21% | 16% | 0.8% |
| Saint-Flour 6,391 · 3.9 mi | 48.5 | 28% | 5.3% | 4.7% |
| Langeac 3,499 · 17.5 mi | 56.6 | 38% | 12% | 6.1% |
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 Mentières
What is the population of Mentières?
121 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (123).
How old are Mentières’ residents?
The median age is 48.4, older than 76% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mentières?
11, with occasional dwellings: 16% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mentières?
INSEE counts 1 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.8% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mentières?
€25,840 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.