Vieillespesse sits below 99% of compared French towns for households in social housing (0.9%)
In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24; in Vieillespesse, 6.3%. Census day 2023: 271 residents and 120 households in the town. On the census count, 3.4% of households have no car. Flats are rarer here than in 98% of compared French towns.
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 Vieillespesse
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 43 second homes and occasional dwellings in Vieillespesse, 23% of its 190 homes: higher than in 94% 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 ↓
Empty homes
The census found 28 homes empty (15%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 94% of compared French towns: 23% of homes are second homes
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 that moved in under two years ago: 5.1%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 34%. At 15%, the share of empty homes is higher than in 95% of compared French towns. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%.
Vieillespesse’s population moved +3% on 2012, less than in 57% 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 change was −6% from 2012 to 2017 and +9% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Cantal town −3%.
Vieillespesse ranks below 65% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 20%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vieillespesse 43.3. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 43.3, Vieillespesse is younger than 56% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Cantal 53.4%, France 51.8%.
In Vieillespesse, 29% of households are couples with children, more than in 71% 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 Cantal median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 2.3 people on average. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%. 8.3% of households are single parents, fewer than in 76% of compared French towns. One-person households: 33%, below 59% of compared French towns.
A median of €24,070 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.
At €24,070 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 71% of compared French towns.
Vieillespesse ranks below 83% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 25%
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 wider picture: nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. About one in six: that is how common households headed by a manual worker are in Vieillespesse (17%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 1.5%, a lower share than 97% 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 Cantal has 3.9%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 97% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The share of foreign nationals stands at 0.7%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 87% of compared French towns: 21% of residents 15 and over are single
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 Vieillespesse, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 84% of compared French towns: 20%
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
15% of adults out of school have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%. Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
12th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 271 to 2,582
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 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Vieillespesse is younger than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vieillespesse | 43.3 | 20% | 23% | 1.5% |
| Saint-Flour 6,391 · 6.8 mi | 48.5 | 28% | 5.3% | 4.7% |
| Brioude 6,527 · 16.1 mi | 51.8 | 32% | 5.3% | 7.5% |
| Langeac 3,499 · 16.2 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 Vieillespesse
What is the population of Vieillespesse?
271 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (263).
How old are Vieillespesse’s residents?
The median age is 43.3, younger than 56% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vieillespesse?
43, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vieillespesse?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.5% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vieillespesse?
€24,070 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 8, 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.