A median age of 53.9: Messé is older than 92% of compared French towns
2% of households have no car; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. In 2023, the Census found 220 residents in Messé, living in 100 households. Here, 0.7% of homes are flats. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
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 Messé
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 29 second homes and occasional dwellings in Messé, 21% of its 140 homes: higher than in 93% 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 ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 100 immigrants in Messé (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 25% of residents, against 3.7% for the median compared commune in Deux-Sèvres. 23% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
An older town
Half of Messé’s residents are under 53.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 26% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 4.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Growing fast
Messé had 186 residents at the 2012 census and 220 in 2023, up 18%: faster growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
21% of homes are second homes, more than in 93% 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
Newcomers of less than two years account for 13% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 14%. Set beside that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Messé sits close to the norm on empty homes: 6.5%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
Messé grew +18% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 88% 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 +1%, and from 2017 to 2023 +17%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Deux-Sèvres town +1%.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 4.1% in Messé, less than in 99% 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
■ Messé 53.9. The median compared French town: 44.
22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, against 26% in Messé. Typically, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
A lower share of single-parent households than 98% of compared French towns, at 5.3%
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
Just over a fifth of households are couples with children (typical compared French town: 25%). As a reference point, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. For Messé, the census puts one-person households at 26%.
At the median, €23,550 a year to live on
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.
Half of Messé’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €23,550 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 77% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a retired person than 93% of compared French towns: 21%
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
In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker; in Messé, 21%. Measured more widely, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Roughly one in ten: 11% of households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
25% of residents are immigrants, a share 97% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 Deux-Sèvres has 3.7%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 97% of compared French towns. On the census count, 23% of residents are foreign nationals. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
62% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 99% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Messé has 16%. Typically, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
20% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 85% 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
Adults with no qualification account for 18%. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 7th oldest of 41 French towns of 220 to 2,582 people
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.
Messé is younger than 1 of its 6 nearest neighbors
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 Messé
What is the population of Messé?
220 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 18% more than in 2012 (186).
How old are Messé’s residents?
The median age is 53.9, older than 92% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Messé?
29, with occasional dwellings: 21% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Messé?
INSEE counts 55 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 25% of residents, and 50 foreign nationals (23%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Messé?
€23,550 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.