Espondeilhan sits below 99% of compared French towns for households in social housing (0.4%)
In Espondeilhan, 32% of households are couples with children, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a retired person are rarer here than in 95% of compared French towns. The town’s 540 households held 1,268 residents at the 2023 Census. Census figures put households without a car at 5.7% locally.
Throughout this page, the Hérault 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 Espondeilhan
Growing fast
Espondeilhan had 997 residents at the 2012 census and 1,268 in 2023, up 27%: faster growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, Espondeilhan outgrew 95% of compared French towns: +27%
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 +13% for the median Hérault town, the change came in two steps: +4% from 2012 to 2017, then +23% to 2023.
A smaller share of residents aged 65 and over than 75% of compared French towns: 18%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Espondeilhan 42.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 10% of residents are 15 to 24 in Espondeilhan. On top of that, with a median age of 42.5, Espondeilhan is younger than 62% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
24% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 95% 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 Hérault median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 2.4 people each. Espondeilhan has more single-parent households than 80% of compared French towns, at 12%. The wider picture: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
8.6% of homes are flats, fewer than in 89% of compared French towns
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
In the last two years, 14% of households moved in; at the other end, 12% have stayed 30 years or more. Higher than in 78% of compared French towns: 5.4% of homes are second homes. 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, against 10% in Espondeilhan.
A median of €23,240 a year per consumption unit
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 Espondeilhan’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €23,240 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 79% of compared French towns.
Espondeilhan sits above 77% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (18%)
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 manager or professional: nearly a tenth of the total. Against that, 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).
Below 60% of compared French towns: 3.3% of residents are foreign nationals
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 median compared commune in Hérault has 6.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 52% of compared French towns. Locally, 6.3% of residents are immigrants. For foreign nationals, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
48% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 84% 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 single residents is 22%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Below 60% of compared French towns: 17% 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
Across Espondeilhan, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Elsewhere, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,268 to 2,582 people), the 10th youngest
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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Every neighbor is older than Espondeilhan
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Espondeilhan | 42.5 | 18% | 5.4% | 6.3% |
| Servian 5,517 · 2.3 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 5.9% | 6.5% |
| Magalas 3,582 · 3 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 18% | 6.4% |
| Boujan-sur-Libron 3,619 · 4.9 mi | 49.6 | 31% | 3.5% | 3.7% |
| Thézan-lès-Béziers 3,124 · 5.1 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 13% | 6.5% |
| Montblanc 2,932 · 6 mi | 46.7 | 26% | 6.8% | 7.3% |
| Murviel-lès-Béziers 3,000 · 6.1 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 7.6% | 6.4% |
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 Espondeilhan
What is the population of Espondeilhan?
1,268 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 27% more than in 2012 (997).
How old are Espondeilhan’s residents?
The median age is 42.5, younger than 62% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Espondeilhan?
34, with occasional dwellings: 5.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Espondeilhan?
INSEE counts 79 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.3% of residents, and 42 foreign nationals (3.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Espondeilhan?
€23,240 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). 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.