A median age of 34.7: Massy is younger than 97% of compared French towns
32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, against 18% in Massy. The town is home to 51,729 residents in 23,530 households, by the 2023 Census. Here, 28% of households have no car. More households in social housing than in 87% of compared French towns: 26%.
Throughout this page, the Essonne 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 Massy
Immigrants
INSEE counts 12,900 immigrants in Massy (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 25% of residents, against 13% for the median compared commune in Essonne. 19% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
A young town
Half of Massy’s residents are under 34.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 19% are under 15 and 13% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Many graduates
53% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 30% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Growing fast
Massy had 43,524 residents at the 2012 census and 51,729 in 2023, up 19%: faster growth than in 89% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Massy grew +19% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 89% 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 change was +17%; from 2017 to 2023, +2%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Essonne town +6%.
Massy ranks below 96% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 13%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Massy 34.7. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 12%, Massy is ahead of 72% of compared French towns on that count. The wider picture: 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: Essonne 51.3%, France 51.8%.
In Massy, 40% of households are one person living alone, more than in 70% 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 Essonne median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 2.2 people share a household. At 12%, the share of single-parent households is higher than in 72% of compared French towns. To put it in context, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. In Massy, nearly a quarter of households are couples with children, beside 25% in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of flats than 98% of compared French towns, at 89%
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
Nothing unusual on second homes: 2.9%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few empty homes: 4.1% here, fewer than in 86% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €27,350 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.
Half of Massy’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €27,350 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 64% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 18.0% of the population.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 33%, a higher share than 98% 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
Compared with 14% in the typical compared French town, 8.2% of households are headed by a manual worker here. The wider picture: 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).
Massy ranks above 97% of compared French towns on immigrants: 25%
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.
Foreign nationals: 19% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Essonne has 13%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 97% of compared French towns. Typically, 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.
More single residents than 90% of compared French towns: 34%
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
Married residents make up 39%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. On average, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
53% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, a share 95% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 Massy, 15% of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (47,219 to 55,858 people), the 6th youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Vaulx-en-Velin is the youngest (32.5); Les Sables-d'Olonne the oldest (59.6).
Massy is younger than 5 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 Massy
What is the population of Massy?
51,729 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% more than in 2012 (43,524).
How old are Massy’s residents?
The median age is 34.7, younger than 97% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Massy?
730, with occasional dwellings: 2.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Massy?
INSEE counts 12,940 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 25% of residents, and 10,070 foreign nationals (19%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Massy?
€27,350 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% 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 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.