A higher share of single-parent households than 86% of compared French towns, at 13%
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 43% of homes are flats here. 14% of households have no car, a higher share than in 64% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 26,623 residents and 11,830 households in Lunel. Locally, 1.2% of homes are second homes.
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 Lunel
Immigrants
INSEE counts 4,300 immigrants in Lunel (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 16% of residents, against 6.8% for the median compared commune in Hérault. 12% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Lunel has changed by +5%, slower than 50% 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 +3% and the next six +1%.
Older than 53% of compared French towns: half of Lunel is over 44.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lunel 44.5. The median compared French town: 44.
In Lunel, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than in just over half of compared French towns: 11%.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
24% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 59% 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
Each household has 2.2 people on average. Measured more widely, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Lunel has fewer one-person households than 57% of compared French towns, at 34%.
Lunel ranks below 65% of compared French towns on empty homes: 5.6%
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
Car-free households: one in seven, where the median compared French town has 11%. Higher than in 58% of compared French towns: 14% of households rent social housing (HLM). For empty homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. Recent arrivals (under two years) make up one in ten households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 13%.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €21,820 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 €21,820 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 90% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 26.5%.
A larger share of households headed by a manual worker than 62% of compared French towns: 16%
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
Compared with 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 7.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. Set beside that, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. Nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person, or about one in three.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Lunel: 16% of residents are immigrants, above 87% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Lunel comes in at 12%. By way of comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
In Lunel, 26% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 57% 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
Few places have as many married residents: 43% here, more than in 53% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 27% in Lunel, more than in 85% 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
Just over a quarter of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%.
Among 41 French towns of 25,578 to 27,707 people, 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 Grigny (31), the youngest, and Biarritz (55.2), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Lunel
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunel | 44.5 | 23% | 1.2% | 16% |
| Saint-Just 3,293 · 1.6 mi | 40.5 | 16% | 1.7% | 6.1% |
| Lunel-Viel 4,507 · 2 mi | 42.1 | 20% | 1.3% | 6.7% |
| Marsillargues 6,988 · 2.3 mi | 43.3 | 22% | 6.7% | 7.4% |
| Lansargues 3,233 · 3.3 mi | 43.8 | 20% | 3.6% | 6.5% |
| Gallargues-le-Montueux 3,659 · 3.6 mi | 41.4 | 19% | 16% | 4.1% |
| Aimargues 5,705 · 3.8 mi | 41.1 | 18% | 8.4% | 6.1% |
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 Lunel
What is the population of Lunel?
26,623 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (25,405).
How old are Lunel’s residents?
The median age is 44.5, older than 53% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lunel?
160, with occasional dwellings: 1.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lunel?
INSEE counts 4,290 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 16% of residents, and 3,170 foreign nationals (12%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lunel?
€21,820 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 26.5% 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 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.