Older than 95% of compared French towns: half of Minerve is over 56.3
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Here, 6.2% of homes are flats. The 2023 Census put Minerve’s population at 98, in 55 households. In Minerve, 17% of homes stand empty, beside 6.7% in the typical compared French town.
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 Minerve
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 37 second homes and occasional dwellings in Minerve, 33% of its 110 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 94% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Minerve had 134 residents at the 2012 census and 98 in 2023, down 27%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Minerve’s residents are under 56.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
55% of Minerve’s households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 55% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Minerve ranks above 95% of compared French towns on second homes: 33%
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
Here 3.5% of households have no car, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 5.3% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 18%. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
−27% since 2012: slower than 99% 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 change was −10% from 2012 to 2017 and −19% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Hérault town +13%.
In Minerve, 5% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% 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
■ Minerve 56.3. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over tops just over four fifths of compared French towns: 29%. By way of comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Minerve ranks above 98% of compared French towns on one-person households: 55%
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
On average, 1.8 people share a household. Typically, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. At 18%, the share of couples with children is lower than in just over four fifths of compared French towns. Single-parent households are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 9.1%.
In Minerve, 18% of households are headed by a manager or professional, more than in 85% 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
Set against 14% in the typical compared French town, 9.1% of households are headed by a manual worker in Minerve. Meanwhile, households headed by a retired person are more common here than in 71% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Minerve ranks above 81% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 9.9%
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.
Where 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town, Minerve has 9.9%. In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals. The median compared commune in Hérault has 6.8%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 70% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 40% of residents 15 and over are married in Minerve
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
Single residents account for 24%. In the median compared French town 43% are married and 6.1% in a PACS; here it is 40% and 4.3%, and 8.5% are widowed.
A smaller share of adults with no qualification than 99% of compared French towns: 3.4%
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 graduates of higher education is 40%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 98 to 2,582 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as Minerve
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minerve | 56.3 | 29% | 33% | 9.9% |
| Lézignan-Corbières 10,343 · 11.1 mi | 48.3 | 30% | 3% | 7.8% |
| Sallèles-d'Aude 3,179 · 12.4 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 9.3% | 6.1% |
| Ouveillan 2,713 · 12.7 mi | 44.5 | 25% | 7.3% | 5.8% |
| Cuxac-d'Aude 4,079 · 15.2 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 4% | 5.2% |
| Puisserguier 3,078 · 15.2 mi | 51.2 | 29% | 8.6% | 7.4% |
| Capestang 3,514 · 15.6 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 8.6% | 9% |
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 Minerve
What is the population of Minerve?
98 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 27% fewer than in 2012 (134).
How old are Minerve’s residents?
The median age is 56.3, older than 95% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Minerve?
37, with occasional dwellings: 33% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Minerve?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.9% of residents, and 10 foreign nationals (9.9%). 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.