0.6% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%; Mestes has 2.9%. For Mestes, the census puts households headed by a manual worker at 26%. 2.6% of households rent social housing (HLM), a lower share than in 95% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Mestes was home to 341 people in 150 households.
Throughout this page, the Corrèze 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 Mestes
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 26 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mestes, 14% of its 190 homes: higher than in 90% 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
Mestes had 365 residents at the 2012 census and 341 in 2023, down 7%: slower growth than in 92% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes: 14%, a higher share than 90% 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
6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, against 8.4% in Mestes. Long tenure is the mark of 28% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 5.4% (under two years). The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%.
−7% since 2012, a pace below 92% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −1% in Corrèze. Here the change came as −3% to 2017, then −4% to 2023.
Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 90% of compared French towns: 8.3%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mestes 47.3. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 47.3, Mestes is older than 71% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. In Mestes, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Corrèze 51.9%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 3.2%, a lower share than 99% 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 Corrèze median and the France median
Living alone · share
With couples with children at 31%, Mestes is ahead of 80% of compared French towns on that count. To put it in context, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Roughly three in ten: 29% of households are one person living alone.
A typical living standard of €27,180 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 €27,180 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 63% of compared French towns.
Only 27% of households are headed by a retired person in Mestes
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
14% of households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Mestes, 2.3% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 89% 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 Corrèze has 6.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 89% of compared French towns. Foreign nationals make up about one in 71 here (1.4%). On average, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
53% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 98% of compared French towns
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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, a fifth of residents 15 and over are single in Mestes. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 87% of compared French towns, at 12%
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 figure for graduates of higher education is 25% in Mestes and 30% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
15th highest median age among 41 French towns of 341 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Mestes sits below 1 of its 2 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Mestes
What is the population of Mestes?
341 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% fewer than in 2012 (365).
How old are Mestes’ residents?
The median age is 47.3, older than 71% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mestes?
26, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mestes?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.3% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mestes?
€27,180 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 4, 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.