Households without a car: 2.5%, a lower share than 99% of compared French towns
The figure for one-person households is 26% in Les Matelles and 35% in the typical compared French town. The town is home to 2,068 residents in 850 households, by the 2023 Census. Across Les Matelles, 5.3% of households are headed by a manual worker. Just over one in ten homes are flats, a lower share than in 83% of compared French towns.
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 Les Matelles
Many graduates
52% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 22% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +14% change since 2012: Les Matelles grew faster than 81% 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 median Hérault town changed +13% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +11% and the next six +3%.
A median age of 47.1: Les Matelles is older than 70% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Les Matelles 47.1. The median compared French town: 44.
25% of Les Matelles’ residents are 65 or older, against 24% in the median Hérault town and 22% in the median compared French town; 21% are under 18.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children make up 30% in Les Matelles, more than in 74% 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
The average household has 2.4 people. Single-parent households are more common here than in just over four fifths of compared French towns. Against that, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
Second homes: 1.1%, a lower share than 76% 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
Some 9.2% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 23% who have been there 30 years or more. Against that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Empty homes: 5.4% of the total. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Median standard of living: €31,660 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 €31,660 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 90% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 7.0% of residents.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 26% in Les Matelles, more than in 94% 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
Households headed by a retired person: 30% here and 32% in the typical compared French town. The share of households headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals make up 1.3% in Les Matelles, less than in 90% 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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 71% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Hérault has 6.8%. The comparison figure for foreign nationals is 4.3% 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.
21% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 86% 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 is 47%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
More graduates of higher education than 94% of compared French towns: 52%
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 share of adults with no qualification is 9.6%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
Among 41 French towns of 2,068 to 2,582 people, 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).
Older than Les Matelles: 3 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Matelles | 47.1 | 25% | 1.1% | 4.3% |
| Saint-Gély-du-Fesc 10,472 · 2.5 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 1.1% | 5.9% |
| Saint-Clément-de-Rivière 5,218 · 3.5 mi | 50.6 | 34% | 4.4% | 5.8% |
| Prades-le-Lez 6,184 · 3.6 mi | 41.3 | 18% | 1% | 6.2% |
| Saint-Mathieu-de-Tréviers 4,979 · 3.8 mi | 44.2 | 20% | 3.6% | 7% |
| Montferrier-sur-Lez 4,135 · 4.7 mi | 49.3 | 30% | 3% | 6.5% |
| Grabels 9,092 · 5.4 mi | 38.9 | 17% | 1.5% | 9.6% |
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 Les Matelles
What is the population of Les Matelles?
2,068 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 14% more than in 2012 (1,808).
How old are Les Matelles’ residents?
The median age is 47.1, older than 70% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Les Matelles?
10, with occasional dwellings: 1.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Les Matelles?
INSEE counts 88 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.3% of residents, and 26 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Les Matelles?
€31,660 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 7.0% 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.