2.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
One-person households make up 29%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. One in ten homes are flats, or about one in ten. Compared with other places, households without a car are scarce here: 6.2%, fewer than in 79% of compared French towns. Laurens had 1,815 residents in 790 households at the 2023 Census.
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 Laurens
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 140 second homes and occasional dwellings in Laurens, 13% of its 1,070 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 83% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Laurens had 1,514 residents at the 2012 census and 1,815 in 2023, up 20%: faster growth than in 90% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 140 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 90% of compared French towns: 13% of homes are second homes
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
The share of empty homes tops 92% of compared French towns: 13%. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Just over one in ten households moved in less than two years ago; 11% have been in their home 30 years or more. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
+20% since 2012, a pace 90% of compared French towns didn’t match
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 +12%; the six to 2023, +7%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Hérault town +13%.
A lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 89% of compared French towns, at 8.4%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Laurens 47.8. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 26%, against 22% in the typical compared French town. Half of Laurens’s residents are over 47.8, older than in 73% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Laurens, 8.2% of households are single parents, fewer than in 78% 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
A household here holds 2.3 people on average. In the typical compared French town, single-parent households come to 10%. More couples with children than in 55% of compared French towns: 26%.
Median living standard: €23,900 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 residents live in households above €23,900 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 73% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a retired person than 83% of compared French towns, at 40%
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 14% in the typical compared French town, nearly a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker in Laurens. Elsewhere, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 8.1%, a higher share than 61% 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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Laurens, 5.5%. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
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 20% in Laurens, less 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: 46%, above 69% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 26%, a lower share than 67% 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
Adults with no qualification: 21% here and 19% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,815 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Nearby, 2 of 6 towns have older populations than Laurens
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurens | 47.8 | 26% | 13% | 8.1% |
| Magalas 3,582 · 3.7 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 18% | 6.4% |
| Murviel-lès-Béziers 3,000 · 6.3 mi | 47.7 | 25% | 7.6% | 6.4% |
| Bédarieux 5,804 · 6.7 mi | 52.4 | 31% | 7.4% | 8.2% |
| Thézan-lès-Béziers 3,124 · 7.4 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 13% | 6.5% |
| Caux 2,718 · 8.4 mi | 52 | 28% | 18% | 8% |
| Servian 5,517 · 8.6 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 5.9% | 6.5% |
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 Laurens
What is the population of Laurens?
1,815 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% more than in 2012 (1,514).
How old are Laurens’ residents?
The median age is 47.8, older than 73% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Laurens?
140, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Laurens?
INSEE counts 150 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.1% of residents, and 100 foreign nationals (5.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Laurens?
€23,900 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.