Photo: Ravenclaw · CC BY-SA 3.0Nîmes ranks above 96% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 15%
In Nîmes, 70% of homes are flats, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. This Gard town had 151,839 residents in 73,350 households at the 2023 census. Second homes: 5.6% of the total. Lower than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns: 19% of households are couples with children.
Throughout this page, the Gard 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 Nîmes
Immigrants
INSEE counts 24,000 immigrants in Nîmes (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 16% of residents, against 6.6% for the median compared commune in Gard. 12% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Many people living alone
48% of Nîmes’ households are one person: higher than in 90% of compared French towns; 40% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Nîmes changed by +3% from 2012 to 2023, behind 55% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +7% in Gard.
Younger than 77% of compared French towns: half of Nîmes is under 40.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Nîmes 40.5. The median compared French town: 44.
21% of residents are 65 or over, or about one in five.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Gard 51.9%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 48%, a higher share than 90% 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 Gard median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2 people. Compared with other places, single-parent households are common here: 12%, more than in 72% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%.
A larger share of households without a car than 91% of compared French towns: 25%
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
Just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, against 17% in Nîmes. This Gard town has more empty homes than 84% of compared French towns, at 11%. Households that moved in under two years ago: 16%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 13%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €20,830 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 Nîmes’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €20,830 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 94% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 32.4% of the population.
11% of households are headed by a manual worker, below 67% 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
Set against 32% in the typical compared French town, 30% of households are headed by a retired person in Nîmes. One in ten households are headed by a manager or professional. The wider picture: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
16% of residents are immigrants, more than in 87% 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 12% in Nîmes and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Across the 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.
Single residents make up 35% in Nîmes, more than in 92% of compared French towns
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: 36% here and 43% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Nîmes sits above 69% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (23%)
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 33% in Nîmes and 30% in the typical compared French town. Typically, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 4th oldest of 41 French towns of 100,679 to 185,140 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.2 in Nancy to 43.7 in Paris 16e.
Every neighbor is older than Nîmes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nîmes | 40.5 | 21% | 5.6% | 16% |
| Caissargues 4,079 · 3.3 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 0.8% | 7.5% |
| Rodilhan 2,799 · 3.8 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 2% | 7.7% |
| Milhaud 6,297 · 4 mi | 44.3 | 24% | 1.9% | 9.1% |
| Bouillargues 6,070 · 4.4 mi | 48.6 | 24% | 1.1% | 6.2% |
| Caveirac 4,408 · 4.6 mi | 51.8 | 29% | 1.4% | 4.9% |
| Marguerittes 8,346 · 4.8 mi | 48.6 | 27% | 1.2% | 6.6% |
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 Nîmes
What is the population of Nîmes?
151,839 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (146,709).
How old are Nîmes’ residents?
The median age is 40.5, younger than 77% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Nîmes?
4,900, with occasional dwellings: 5.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Nîmes?
INSEE counts 23,980 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 16% of residents, and 17,700 foreign nationals (12%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Nîmes?
€20,830 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 32.4% 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.