Half of Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem is over 56, older than 95% of compared French towns
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 2.6%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. At 1.9%, the share of households in social housing is lower than in 97% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 1,523 residents in 780 households. Across Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem, 5.1% of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Côtes-d'Armor 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 Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 200 second homes and occasional dwellings in Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem, 17% of its 1,150 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 98% 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
Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem had 1,725 residents at the 2012 census and 1,523 in 2023, down 12%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem’s residents are under 56 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 180 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.
Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem ranks above 92% of compared French towns on second homes: 17%
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
One household in eight has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. At 15%, the share of empty homes is higher than in 96% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. The census found that 12% of households have no car in Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem.
−12% since 2012, a pace below 98% 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 −3%, and from 2017 to 2023 −9%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Côtes-d'Armor town +3%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 93% of compared French towns: 34%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem 56. The median compared French town: 44.
In Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem, 7.5% of residents are 15 to 24, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Côtes-d'Armor 52.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Couples with children make up 16% in Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem, less than in 88% 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 Côtes-d'Armor median and the France median
Living alone · share
Just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town, against 46% in Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem. On the census count, 7.6% of households are single parents. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%.
A median standard of living of €24,040 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.
At €24,040 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 71% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person: 41%, a higher share than 85% 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
The share of households headed by a manual worker is 17%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 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).
Fewer immigrants than 60% of compared French towns: 5.3%
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 share of foreign nationals stands at 4.6%. To put it in context, 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.
A lower share of single residents than 67% of compared French towns, at 23%
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 married residents is 44%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Graduates of higher education make up 19% in Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem, less than in 87% 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
25% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). By way of comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 5th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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.
Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem is older than every town around it
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 Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem
What is the population of Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem?
1,523 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% fewer than in 2012 (1,725).
How old are Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem’s residents?
The median age is 56, older than 95% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem?
200, with occasional dwellings: 17% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem?
INSEE counts 81 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.3% of residents, and 71 foreign nationals (4.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Saint-Nicolas-du-Pélem?
€24,040 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.