Photo: Thesupermat · CC BY-SA 3.0Morlaix sits below 94% of compared French towns for couples with children (14%)
By its share of flats (53%), Morlaix is above 78% of compared French towns. 15,194 residents in 8,170 households: that is Morlaix at the 2023 Census. The census found that 23% of households have no car in the town. The town has more second homes than 77% of compared French towns, at 5%.
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.
What stands out about the people of Morlaix
Many people living alone
54% of Morlaix’s households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 40% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 1,250 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −2% change since 2012: slower than 78% 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
The median Finistère town changed +4% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −6% and the next six +4%.
A larger share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 87% of compared French towns: 13%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Morlaix 45.4. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 45.4, Morlaix is older than nearly three fifths of compared French towns. Residents aged 65 and over make up about one in four here (23%). As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Finistère 51.7%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 98% of compared French towns: 54%
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
Households here average 1.8 people each. Measured more widely, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households: 9.8%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town.
Empty homes: 13%, a higher share than 90% 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
Households in social housing: 15% here and 12% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%.
A median standard of living of €23,610 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.
Living standards centre on €23,610 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 76% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 21.0% of residents.
In Morlaix, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 58% 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
Locally, 8.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional. The share of households headed by a retired person is 31%, against 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A larger share of foreign nationals than 62% of compared French towns: 5.7%
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.
Immigrants make up a share higher than in 52% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Finistère has 2.4%. The usual figure: 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. 6.8% of residents are immigrants, or about one in 15.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer married residents than 97% of compared French towns: 31%
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 single residents is 38%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Morlaix sits below 65% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (16%)
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
A third of Morlaix’s residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 16% have no diploma (19%).
Among 41 French towns of 14,734 to 15,604 people, the 11th 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.
Lognes is the youngest (34.9); Saint-Jean-de-Luz the oldest (54.3).
Every neighbor is older than Morlaix
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morlaix | 45.4 | 23% | 5% | 6.8% |
| Saint-Martin-des-Champs 4,773 · 1 mi | 50.9 | 32% | 2.8% | 4.4% |
| Plourin-lès-Morlaix 4,548 · 2.9 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
| Taulé 2,914 · 3.7 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 4.9% | 3.4% |
| Plouigneau 5,014 · 4.9 mi | 47.3 | 25% | 5.6% | 2.2% |
| Plougonven 3,382 · 5.6 mi | 49 | 28% | 7.1% | 1.9% |
| Pleyber-Christ 3,166 · 5.7 mi | 46.5 | 26% | 7.3% | 2.3% |
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 Morlaix
What is the population of Morlaix?
15,194 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (15,507).
How old are Morlaix’s residents?
The median age is 45.4, older than 59% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Morlaix?
490, with occasional dwellings: 5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Morlaix?
INSEE counts 1,030 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.8% of residents, and 870 foreign nationals (5.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Morlaix?
€23,610 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.0% 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.