Photo: Babsy · CC BY-SA 3.0Only 12% of households are couples with children in Limoges
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, against 18% in Limoges. More households without a car than in 93% of compared French towns: 26%. In 2023, the Census found 129,937 residents in the town, living in 73,270 households. Locally, 72% of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Haute-Vienne 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 Limoges
Many people living alone
57% of Limoges’ households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 44% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Limoges had 136,221 residents at the 2012 census and 129,937 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 87% 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 Limoges behind 87% 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 first five years brought −3%; the six to 2023, −2%.
Younger than 82% of compared French towns: half of Limoges is under 39.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Limoges 39.5. The median compared French town: 44.
On the census count, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Haute-Vienne 52.5%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of one-person households than 99% of compared French towns: 57%
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 Haute-Vienne median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 1.7 people. Single-parent households are rarer here than in two thirds of compared French towns. The wider picture: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Above 78% of compared French towns: 20% of households rent social housing (HLM)
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
Compared with 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 9.2% of homes stand empty here. Second homes are more common here than in 65% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. In the last two years, 18% of households moved in; at the other end, 14% have stayed 30 years or more.
A median standard of living of €22,690 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 €22,690 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 84% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 25.5%.
Limoges ranks below 65% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 30%
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
In Limoges, 12% of households are headed by a manual worker, beside 14% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Here, one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
12% of residents are foreign nationals, a share 87% of compared French towns don’t reach
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.
In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants; in Limoges, 13%. As a reference point, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. That is higher than in 82% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Haute-Vienne has 4.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 98% of compared French towns: 30% of residents 15 and over are married
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
Nearly two in five residents 15 and over are single, against 25% in the typical compared French town. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
In Limoges, 35% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 66% 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
Here, a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 95,112 to 178,691 people: this is the 8th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Nancy (31.2), the youngest, and Paris 16e (43.7), the oldest.
Every neighbor is older than Limoges
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limoges | 39.5 | 23% | 3.4% | 13% |
| Panazol 11,342 · 2.4 mi | 51.3 | 31% | 0.9% | 7.1% |
| Couzeix 10,195 · 2.8 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 1.2% | 4.8% |
| Isle 7,995 · 3.2 mi | 49.2 | 29% | 1.8% | 6.7% |
| Condat-sur-Vienne 5,281 · 3.4 mi | 46.2 | 24% | 1.4% | 3.2% |
| Le Palais-sur-Vienne 5,775 · 4 mi | 49.3 | 29% | 1.1% | 7.9% |
| Feytiat 6,176 · 4.1 mi | 49.4 | 27% | 1.4% | 4.2% |
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 Limoges
What is the population of Limoges?
129,937 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (136,221).
How old are Limoges’ residents?
The median age is 39.5, younger than 82% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Limoges?
2,820, with occasional dwellings: 3.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Limoges?
INSEE counts 17,270 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 15,860 foreign nationals (12%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Limoges?
€22,690 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 25.5% 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.