Photo: Mike Finn from Worcester, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0A larger share of empty homes than 94% of compared French towns: 14%
The share of flats trails 83% of compared French towns: 12%. Pleyben had 3,692 residents in 1,690 households at the 2023 Census. Put another way, about one in 15: 6.5% of households have no car. More households headed by a manual worker than in just over four fifths of compared French towns: 20%.
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 Pleyben
Empty homes
The census found 290 homes empty (14%): 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 ±0% change since 2012: slower than 69% 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
Over those years, the median Finistère town changed +4% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −2%, then +2% to 2023.
A median age of 46.6: Pleyben is older than 67% 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
■ Pleyben 46.6. The median compared French town: 44.
On the census count, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 10%, against 11% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Finistère 51.7%, France 51.8%.
In Pleyben, 40% of households are one person living alone, more than in 68% 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 Finistère median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.1 people. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Fewer couples with children than in 63% of compared French towns: 22%. On single-parent households, 9.2% here is much the same as in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of households in social housing than 79% of compared French towns, at 6.5%
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
One household in 15 has no car (median compared French town: 11%). Typically, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. The census found that 4.6% of homes are second homes in Pleyben.
A typical living standard of €24,620 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €24,620 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 65% of compared French towns. One measure of hardship: 12.0% of residents are below the poverty line.
Pleyben sits below 67% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (7.1%)
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 retired person: 31% of the total. As a yardstick, 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 84% of compared French towns: 2.7% 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.
The figure for foreign nationals is 2.1% in Pleyben and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 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 lower share of married residents than 75% of compared French towns, at 39%
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
Where a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, Pleyben has 27%. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
Below 69% of compared French towns: 16% of adults out of school have no qualification
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
The figure for graduates of higher education is 28% in Pleyben and 30% in the typical compared French town. For adults with no qualification, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 19%.
18th highest median age among 41 French towns of 3,664 to 3,721
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Pont-de-l'Isère is the youngest (38.6); Lectoure the oldest (55.4).
Pleyben 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pleyben | 46.6 | 23% | 4.6% | 2.7% |
| Châteaulin 5,085 · 5.8 mi | 47.4 | 24% | 5.7% | 4.2% |
| Pont-de-Buis-lès-Quimerch 3,663 · 6.2 mi | 43.3 | 19% | 7.4% | 2.9% |
| Châteauneuf-du-Faou 3,651 · 7.4 mi | 51.2 | 30% | 15% | 7.4% |
| Briec 5,816 · 9.2 mi | 42.6 | 19% | 3.9% | 6.3% |
| Plogonnec 3,236 · 14.1 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 6.9% | 2% |
| Ergué-Gabéric 8,606 · 15.6 mi | 45.4 | 22% | 0.9% | 2.6% |
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 Pleyben
What is the population of Pleyben?
3,692 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (3,684).
How old are Pleyben’s residents?
The median age is 46.6, older than 67% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pleyben?
95, with occasional dwellings: 4.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pleyben?
INSEE counts 100 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.7% of residents, and 77 foreign nationals (2.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pleyben?
€24,620 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.