Half of Melle is over 53.8, older than 92% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, 32% of households are headed by a retired person; in Melle, 41%. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 5,752, in 2,820 households. 15% of households are couples with children, or about one in seven. On households in social housing, Melle sits higher than 70% of compared French towns: 18%.
Throughout this page, the Deux-Sèvres 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 Melle
Fewer residents than in 2012
Melle had 6,453 residents at the 2012 census and 5,752 in 2023, down 11%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Melle’s residents are under 53.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Melle changed by −11% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +1% for the median Deux-Sèvres town, the change came in two steps: −4% from 2012 to 2017, then −7% to 2023.
33% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 91% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Melle 53.8. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.3%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Melle ranks above 79% of compared French towns on one-person households: 43%
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 Deux-Sèvres median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 1.9 people in the average household. As a reference point, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few single-parent households: 8.9% here, fewer than in 67% of compared French towns.
Melle ranks below 87% of compared French towns on flats: 9.7%
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
In Melle, just over one in ten homes stand empty, beside 6.7% in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 14% of households have no car. At 4.3%, the share of second homes is higher than in 73% of compared French towns. For flats, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
Standard of living at the median: €24,260 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €24,260 a year: lower than in 68% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 16.0% of residents.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 94% of compared French towns: 3.9%
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: 17% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 76% of compared French towns: 3.7% of residents are immigrants
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.
2.6% of residents are foreign nationals; in the typical compared French town the figure is 4.3%. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%.
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 70% 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
In Melle, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Melle sits above 77% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (25%)
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education is 30%; Melle has 25%. The usual figure: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
3rd highest median age among 41 French towns of 5,705 to 5,798
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Valdahon is the youngest (35.2); Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët the oldest (56.7).
No nearby town is as old as Melle
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melle | 53.8 | 33% | 4.3% | 3.7% |
| Celles-sur-Belle 3,829 · 4.2 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Aigondigné 4,710 · 7.6 mi | 43.7 | 18% | 1.6% | 2.2% |
| Vouillé 3,566 · 12.2 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 1.9% | 2.4% |
| La Crèche 5,662 · 12.5 mi | 48.5 | 25% | 1.1% | 3.3% |
| Saint-Maixent-l'École 7,595 · 13.6 mi | 35.5 | 21% | 2.7% | 7.6% |
| Aiffres 5,419 · 14.1 mi | 49.8 | 26% | 0.5% | 3.4% |
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 Melle
What is the population of Melle?
5,752 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% fewer than in 2012 (6,453).
How old are Melle’s residents?
The median age is 53.8, older than 92% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Melle?
140, with occasional dwellings: 4.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Melle?
INSEE counts 210 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.7% of residents, and 150 foreign nationals (2.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Melle?
€24,260 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.