Photo: Kuratle · Public domainA median age of 37.8: Mulhouse is younger than 89% of compared French towns
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 86% of homes are flats in Mulhouse. There were 47,790 households in the town at the 2023 Census, home to 104,978 residents. 31% of households have no car, or about one in three. Few places have so few households headed by a retired person: 25% here, fewer than in 84% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Haut-Rhin 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 Mulhouse
Immigrants
INSEE counts 28,300 immigrants in Mulhouse (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 27% of residents, against 10% for the median compared commune in Haut-Rhin. 23% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Empty homes
The census found 9,400 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
A young town
Half of Mulhouse’s residents are under 37.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 19% are under 15 and 17% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Mulhouse had 110,755 residents at the 2012 census and 104,978 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 89% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of −5% since 2012 leaves Mulhouse behind 89% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −1%, and from 2017 to 2023 −4%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Haut-Rhin town +4%.
Mulhouse ranks above 94% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 14%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mulhouse 37.8. The median compared French town: 44.
22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, against 17% in Mulhouse. For comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Haut-Rhin 51.5%, France 51.8%.
47% of households are one person living alone, a share 88% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 Haut-Rhin median and the France median
Living alone · share
The share of single-parent households tops three quarters of compared French towns: 12%. Set beside that, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Couples with children make up about one in five here (21%).
Above 97% of compared French towns: 16% of homes stand empty
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
Long tenure is the mark of 12% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 15% (under two years). Mulhouse has more households in social housing than just over four fifths of compared French towns, at 22%. The share of empty homes in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. Car-free households: one in three, where the median compared French town has 11%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €18,680 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 €18,680 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 98% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 36.5% of residents.
Mulhouse sits above 86% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (21%)
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
Nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional, or about one in 11. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Mulhouse: 27% of residents are immigrants, above 97% 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.
Foreign nationals: 23%, above 98% of compared French towns. By way of 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: 36%, a higher share than 94% 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
The share of married residents trails 78% of compared French towns: 38%. Measured more widely, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
31% of adults out of school have no qualification, a share 94% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Graduates of higher education: 25%, below two thirds of compared French towns. Typically, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 15th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Poitiers (30), the oldest Marseille 8e (46.3).
Every neighbor is older than Mulhouse
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mulhouse | 37.8 | 17% | 2.1% | 27% |
| Pfastatt 10,314 · 1.8 mi | 42 | 23% | 1% | 13% |
| Riedisheim 12,200 · 1.8 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 0.9% | 9.6% |
| Illzach 14,923 · 1.9 mi | 42 | 21% | 1.1% | 20% |
| Brunstatt-Didenheim 8,259 · 2.1 mi | 45.7 | 23% | 4.1% | 9.8% |
| Lutterbach 6,851 · 2.3 mi | 44.4 | 24% | 1.2% | 10% |
| Kingersheim 13,354 · 2.7 mi | 46.2 | 25% | 0.2% | 13% |
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 Mulhouse
What is the population of Mulhouse?
104,978 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (110,755).
How old are Mulhouse’s residents?
The median age is 37.8, younger than 89% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mulhouse?
1,250, with occasional dwellings: 2.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mulhouse?
INSEE counts 28,280 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 27% of residents, and 23,850 foreign nationals (23%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mulhouse?
€18,680 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 36.5% 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.