Photo: Clo-Pontduch · CC BY-SA 3.0Plouguerneau sits above 94% of compared French towns for second homes (23%)
In the typical compared French town, 32% of households are headed by a retired person; in Plouguerneau, 42%. Locally, 7.9% of residents are 15 to 24. 3.5% of households rent social housing (HLM), fewer than in 92% of compared French towns. There were 3,210 households locally at the 2023 Census, home to 6,755 residents.
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 Plouguerneau
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 1,050 second homes and occasional dwellings in Plouguerneau, 23% of its 4,570 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 98% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Plouguerneau’s residents are under 51.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Only 6.1% of homes are flats in Plouguerneau
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
Car-free households: one in 16, where the median compared French town has 11%. The share of flats in the typical compared French town is 30%. In Plouguerneau, 6.2% of households have no car.
Plouguerneau grew +6% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 56% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +4% for the median Finistère town, the change came in two steps: +4% from 2012 to 2017, then +2% to 2023.
Plouguerneau is older than 88% of compared French towns: a median age of 51.9
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Plouguerneau 51.9. The median compared French town: 44.
29% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Finistère 51.7%, France 51.8%.
Fewer single-parent households than 90% of compared French towns: 7%
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 average 2.1 people. Plouguerneau has more one-person households than 62% of compared French towns, at 38%. The benchmark for single-parent households in the typical compared French town: 10%. Here 23% of households are couples with children, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €26,730 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.
At €26,730 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 59% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 9.0% of residents.
9.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 51% 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
Here, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker. The benchmark for households headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town: 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 2% in Plouguerneau, less 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.
Here 1.5% of residents are foreign nationals, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. The median compared commune in Finistère has 2.4%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 92% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer single residents than 90% of compared French towns: 20%
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
Set against 43% in the typical compared French town, 48% of residents 15 and over are married in Plouguerneau. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 14% in Plouguerneau, less than in 78% 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
A third of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
7th highest median age among 41 French towns of 6,688 to 6,839
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Merville is the youngest (36.9); Nyons the oldest (60.6).
Plouguerneau 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.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plouguerneau | 51.9 | 29% | 23% | 2% |
| Lannilis 5,709 · 2.9 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 4.2% | 1.4% |
| Landéda 3,702 · 3.3 mi | 53 | 28% | 20% | 1.7% |
| Plouvien 3,968 · 6.2 mi | 39.7 | 15% | 2.2% | 1.7% |
| Bourg-Blanc 3,573 · 8 mi | 43 | 22% | 1.2% | 2.1% |
| Ploudalmézeau 6,522 · 8.6 mi | 49.3 | 28% | 16% | 1.5% |
| Le Folgoët 3,315 · 8.7 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
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 Plouguerneau
What is the population of Plouguerneau?
6,755 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (6,352).
How old are Plouguerneau’s residents?
The median age is 51.9, older than 88% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Plouguerneau?
1,050, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Plouguerneau?
INSEE counts 130 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2% of residents, and 100 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Plouguerneau?
€26,730 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 9.0% 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.