Photo: Romainbehar · CC0Above 86% of compared French towns: 46% of households are one person living alone
Set against 22% in the typical compared French town, 25% of residents are 65 or over in Lesneven. The town counted 7,566 residents and 3,540 households at the 2023 Census. Households headed by a manual worker make up about one in six here (16%). Few places have so few households in social housing: 9.8% here, fewer than in just over three fifths of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Finistère 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.
From 2012 to 2023, Lesneven outgrew 53% of compared French towns: +6%
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 +4% for the median Finistère town, the change came in two steps: +2% from 2012 to 2017, then +3% to 2023.
Older than 66% of compared French towns: half of Lesneven is over 46.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lesneven 46.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 12% here and 11% 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: Finistère 51.7%, France 51.8%.
A lower share of couples with children than 76% of compared French towns, at 20%
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 Finistère median and the France median
Living alone · share
By its share of single-parent households (12%), Lesneven is above 72% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2 people each.
Above 59% of compared French towns: 12% of households have no car
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
Empty homes are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 7.6%. In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households have no car. Across Lesneven, 2.6% of homes are second homes.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €25,050 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 Lesneven’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,050 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 60% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 12.0% of residents are below the line.
33% of households are headed by a retired person, a share 53% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 manager or professional account for 8.5%. To put it in context, 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).
2% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 92% 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 figure for foreign nationals is 1.4% in Lesneven and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 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 smaller share of married residents than 82% of compared French towns: 37%
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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Lesneven comes in at 29%. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 57% of compared French towns, at 18%
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
Locally, 29% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Measured more widely, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 7,447 to 7,682 people: this is the 19th oldest
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 Saint-Maixent-l'École (35.5), the youngest, and Crozon (57.1), the oldest.
Lesneven sits below 2 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lesneven | 46.5 | 25% | 2.6% | 2% |
| Le Folgoët 3,315 · 1.1 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| Ploudaniel 3,732 · 2.9 mi | 43.4 | 21% | 2.2% | 1.6% |
| Plouvien 3,968 · 6.9 mi | 39.7 | 15% | 2.2% | 1.7% |
| Plabennec 8,686 · 7 mi | 41.6 | 19% | 1.2% | 1.3% |
| Plouédern 3,103 · 7.4 mi | 40 | 18% | 1.6% | 1.7% |
| Plouescat 3,554 · 8.7 mi | 54.5 | 34% | 27% | 2% |
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 Lesneven
What is the population of Lesneven?
7,566 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (7,167).
How old are Lesneven’s residents?
The median age is 46.5, older than 66% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lesneven?
100, with occasional dwellings: 2.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lesneven?
INSEE counts 150 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2% of residents, and 110 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lesneven?
€25,050 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 12.0% 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.