Photo: Christian Ferrer · CC BY 4.0Mèze is older than 89% of compared French towns: a median age of 52.3
Households headed by a retired person: 45% here and 32% in the typical compared French town. Nearly a fifth of households are couples with children, or about one in five. Few places have so few empty homes: 5% here, fewer than in 75% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 12,669 people lived in Mèze, in 6,120 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 Mèze
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 1,040 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mèze, 14% of its 7,530 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 49% 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 Mèze’s residents are under 52.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.4% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Mèze sits above 90% of compared French towns for second homes (14%)
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 flats is 39%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Add to that, 15% of households have no car, a higher share than in 67% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Here, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM).
Growth of +16% since 2012 puts Mèze ahead of 84% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Hérault town +13%. The first five years brought +6%; the six to 2023, +9%.
Mèze ranks above 89% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 31%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mèze 52.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24; in Mèze, 9.8%. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
One-person households: 38%, a higher share than 62% 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
At 9.3%, the share of single-parent households is in line with the figure in the typical compared French town. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town.
€24,180 a year is the median standard of living here
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.
Living standards centre on €24,180 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 69% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 20.0% of residents.
In Mèze, 6.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 72% 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: 11% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
7.3% of residents in Mèze are immigrants
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 higher than in 55% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Hérault has 6.8%. Put another way, about one in 21: 4.8% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 23%, a lower share than 68% 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
45% of residents 15 and over are married; in the typical compared French town the figure is 43%. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Only 25% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Mèze
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
Compared with 19% in the typical compared French town, just over a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification here. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
Of 41 French towns its size (12,361 to 12,971 people), the 5th 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.
Ages run from 33.2 in Villetaneuse to 60 in Andernos-les-Bains.
Of the 6 towns nearest Mèze, 2 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mèze | 52.3 | 31% | 14% | 7.3% |
| Sète 45,337 · 4.5 mi | 53.6 | 34% | 21% | 10% |
| Balaruc-les-Bains 7,139 · 4.8 mi | 52 | 32% | 54% | 4.4% |
| Villeveyrac 3,972 · 4.9 mi | 41.3 | 19% | 4.1% | 3.1% |
| Balaruc-le-Vieux 2,737 · 5.1 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 11% | 4.5% |
| Poussan 6,797 · 5.5 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 2.7% | 4% |
| Marseillan 8,414 · 6.7 mi | 57.8 | 38% | 60% | 8.2% |
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 Mèze
What is the population of Mèze?
12,669 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 16% more than in 2012 (10,917).
How old are Mèze’s residents?
The median age is 52.3, older than 89% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mèze?
1,040, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mèze?
INSEE counts 920 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.3% of residents, and 610 foreign nationals (4.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mèze?
€24,180 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 20.0% 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.