Lespignan sits above 90% of compared French towns for empty homes (12%)
The share of households in social housing trails 83% of compared French towns: 5.7%. Households headed by a manager or professional account for 5.3%. Higher than in 71% of compared French towns: 26% of residents are 65 or over. At the 2023 Census, 3,414 people lived in Lespignan, in 1,570 households.
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 Lespignan
Empty homes
The census found 240 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, Lespignan outgrew 59% of compared French towns: +7%
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
Over those years, the median Hérault town changed +13% and the median compared French town +5%.
Older than 78% of compared French towns: half of Lespignan is over 48.6
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lespignan 48.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.2%, below nearly four fifths of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Lespignan sits below 69% of compared French towns for one-person households (31%)
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 typical household size is 2.2 people. For comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Across Lespignan, just over one in ten households are single parents. A quarter of households are couples with children, fewer than in 54% of compared French towns.
Lespignan: 7% of homes are second homes, above 83% 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
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten homes are flats here. On top of that, fewer households without a car than in 53% of compared French towns: 10%. Set beside that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €24,050 a year in standard of living
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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €24,050 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 71% of compared French towns. 16.0% of the population lives below the poverty line.
Households headed by a retired person: 35%, a higher share than 65% 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 manual worker are rarer here than in 57% of compared French towns. The share of households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of foreign nationals than 68% of compared French towns: 2.8%
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.
Set against 6.5% in the typical compared French town, 5.1% of residents are immigrants in Lespignan. The share of foreign nationals in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. That is lower than in 62% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Hérault has 6.8%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 22% of residents 15 and over are single in Lespignan
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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 47% in Lespignan. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 84% of compared French towns, at 20%
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%; Lespignan has 21%. For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
The 11th oldest of 41 French towns of 3,386 to 3,441 people
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 Moult-Chicheboville (35.9), the oldest Sainte-Marie-de-Ré (58.5).
5 of 6 neighbors are older than Lespignan
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lespignan | 48.6 | 26% | 7% | 5.1% |
| Nissan-lez-Enserune 4,124 · 2.5 mi | 47.9 | 26% | 5.7% | 5.6% |
| Colombiers 2,814 · 3 mi | 53.9 | 32% | 12% | 6.3% |
| Vendres 2,616 · 3.2 mi | 49.1 | 27% | 47% | 5.1% |
| Salles-d'Aude 3,369 · 3.7 mi | 50.7 | 30% | 15% | 4.4% |
| Sauvian 5,608 · 4.3 mi | 50.4 | 30% | 6% | 5.8% |
| Montady 3,990 · 4.8 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 3.2% | 5.6% |
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 Lespignan
What is the population of Lespignan?
3,414 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (3,192).
How old are Lespignan’s residents?
The median age is 48.6, older than 78% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lespignan?
140, with occasional dwellings: 7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lespignan?
INSEE counts 180 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.1% of residents, and 94 foreign nationals (2.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lespignan?
€24,050 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% 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.