Older than 99% of compared French towns: half of Valras-Plage is over 67
In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%; Valras-Plage has 1.9%. For Valras-Plage, the census puts households headed by a manual worker at 6.1%. More flats than in just over four fifths of compared French towns: 58%. This Hérault town had 4,432 residents in 2,660 households at the 2023 census.
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 Valras-Plage
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 6,480 second homes and occasional dwellings in Valras-Plage, 70% of its 9,310 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 37% 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 Valras-Plage’s residents are under 67 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 54% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 15% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
49% of Valras-Plage’s households are one person: higher than in 92% of compared French towns; 37% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A higher share of second homes than 99% of compared French towns, at 70%
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
Newcomers of less than two years account for just over one in ten households, residents of 30 years or more for 12%. Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. On households in social housing, Valras-Plage sits lower than 97% of compared French towns: 1.8%. Where 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town, Valras-Plage has 14%.
From 2012 to 2023, 62% of compared French towns grew faster than Valras-Plage: +2%
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 −3% from 2012 to 2017 and +5% from 2017 to 2023.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 54% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Valras-Plage 67. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 4.7%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 83 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.
Couples with children: 6.9%, a lower share than 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households is 10%; Valras-Plage has 8.6%. The share of one-person households stands at 49%. Typically, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
A typical living standard of €23,560 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 €23,560 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 77% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 19.0% of residents.
Households headed by a retired person: 62%, a higher share than 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
Households headed by a manager or professional: 2.5%, below 99% of compared French towns. Typically, 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).
6.3% of Valras-Plage’s residents 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 lower than in 52% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Hérault has 6.8%. In Valras-Plage, 3.4% 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.
In Valras-Plage, 19% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 95% 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
44% of residents 15 and over are married. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 90% of compared French towns: 19%
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
Adults with no qualification: 24%, above 73% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 4,388 to 4,476 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.
Labège is the youngest (33); Valras-Plage the oldest (67).
Valras-Plage is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valras-Plage | 67 | 54% | 70% | 6.3% |
| Sérignan 8,588 · 1.7 mi | 54.2 | 35% | 21% | 6.3% |
| Vendres 2,616 · 3 mi | 49.1 | 27% | 47% | 5.1% |
| Sauvian 5,608 · 3.4 mi | 50.4 | 30% | 6% | 5.8% |
| Portiragnes 3,530 · 4.6 mi | 53.9 | 32% | 61% | 8.3% |
| Villeneuve-lès-Béziers 4,500 · 5 mi | 46.5 | 25% | 8.1% | 7.3% |
| Cers 2,503 · 5.3 mi | 47.5 | 28% | 2.8% | 6% |
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 Valras-Plage
What is the population of Valras-Plage?
4,432 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (4,348).
How old are Valras-Plage’s residents?
The median age is 67, older than 99% of compared French towns. 8.5% are under 18 and 54% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Valras-Plage?
6,480, with occasional dwellings: 70% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Valras-Plage?
INSEE counts 280 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.3% of residents, and 150 foreign nationals (3.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Valras-Plage?
€23,560 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 19.0% 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.