Mérifons is older than 99% of compared French towns: a median age of 63
Here 33% of households are couples with children, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. Census day 2023: 62 residents and 27 households in Mérifons. The share of empty homes stands at 1.7%. Compared with other places, flats are scarce here: 6.9%, fewer than in 92% 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 Mérifons
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 30 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mérifons, 52% of its 58 homes: higher than in 97% 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Mérifons’ residents are under 63 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 48% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 3.2% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Growing fast
Mérifons had 49 residents at the 2012 census and 62 in 2023, up 27%: faster growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many graduates
57% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 28% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
52% of homes are second homes, a share 97% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Long tenure is the mark of 3.7% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 3.7% (under two years). By way of comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Growth of +27% since 2012 puts Mérifons ahead of 95% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −12%, and from 2017 to 2023 +44%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Hérault town +13%.
48% of residents are 65 or over, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mérifons 63. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (4.8%), Mérifons is below 99% 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
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
In Mérifons, 17% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 99% 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. By way of comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
In Mérifons, 67% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 99% 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
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Mérifons sits above 89% of compared French towns for foreign nationals (13%)
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 higher than in 81% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Set against 6.5% in the typical compared French town, 13% of residents are immigrants in Mérifons.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 60%, a higher share than 99% 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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Mérifons comes in at 16%. Set beside that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A larger share of graduates of higher education than 97% of compared French towns: 57%
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 trails 92% of compared French towns: 11%. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 62 to 2,582 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Mérifons the oldest (63).
Every neighbor is younger than Mérifons
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Mérifons
What is the population of Mérifons?
62 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 27% more than in 2012 (49).
How old are Mérifons’ residents?
The median age is 63, older than 99% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 48% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mérifons?
30, with occasional dwellings: 52% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mérifons?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 8 foreign nationals (13%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.