A higher share of second homes than 95% of compared French towns, at 30%
4.9% of residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). In 2023, the Census found 142 residents in Vailhan, living in 72 households. The census found that 5.6% of households have no car here. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% 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 Vailhan
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 36 second homes and occasional dwellings in Vailhan, 30% of its 120 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 100% 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
Vailhan had 173 residents at the 2012 census and 142 in 2023, down 18%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Vailhan’s residents are under 53 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Vailhan sits below 98% of compared French towns for flats (3.3%)
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
24% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 9.7% moved in within the last two years. Vailhan has more empty homes than 80% of compared French towns, at 10%. Without a car: one household in 18, against 11% in the median compared French town.
−18% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −9%, and from 2017 to 2023 −10%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Hérault town +13%.
Vailhan is older than 91% of compared French towns: a median age of 53
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vailhan 53. The median compared French town: 44.
29% of Vailhan’s residents are 65 or older, against 24% in the median Hérault town and 22% in the median compared French town; 18% are under 18.
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%.
A lower share of couples with children than 95% of compared French towns, at 13%
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
In Vailhan, two in five households are one person living alone, beside 35% in the typical compared French town. Couples with children make up 25% in the typical compared French town. The average household has 2 people. This Hérault town has more single-parent households than 89% of compared French towns, at 13%.
A median of €20,710 a year per consumption unit
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 Vailhan’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €20,710 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 95% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a retired person than 79% of compared French towns: 27%
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
The figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 6.7% in Vailhan and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manual worker are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
13% of residents are immigrants, a share 80% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Vailhan has 11%. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
53% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 97% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%; Vailhan has 20%. As a yardstick, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
More adults with no qualification than 66% of compared French towns: 22%
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
27% of Vailhan’s residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 22% have no diploma (19%).
7th highest median age among 41 French towns of 142 to 2,582
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 Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Vailhan
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 Vailhan
What is the population of Vailhan?
142 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 18% fewer than in 2012 (173).
How old are Vailhan’s residents?
The median age is 53, older than 91% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vailhan?
36, with occasional dwellings: 30% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vailhan?
INSEE counts 18 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 15 foreign nationals (11%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vailhan?
€20,710 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). 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.