Households headed by a retired person: 19%, a lower share than 96% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats; in Viols-le-Fort, 12%. There were 560 households here at the 2023 Census, home to 1,229 residents. Households in social housing account for 5%. This Hérault town has fewer one-person households than two thirds of compared French towns, at 32%.
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 Viols-le-Fort
Many graduates
48% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 21% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +5% change since 2012: slower than 51% 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 first five years brought +3%; the six to 2023, +1%.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 68% of compared French towns: 19%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Viols-le-Fort 45.2. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 45.2, Viols-le-Fort is older than 58% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Across Viols-le-Fort, one in ten residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Hérault 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children make up 27% in Viols-le-Fort, more than in 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
A household here holds 2.2 people on average. Just over one in ten households are single parents, more than in 59% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for couples with children is 25% in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of households without a car than 64% of compared French towns: 8.4%
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
In the last two years, 11% of households moved in; at the other end, 13% have stayed 30 years or more. 1.6% of homes are second homes, a lower share than in 60% of compared French towns. Viols-le-Fort sits close to the norm on empty homes: 6.8%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
A median of €27,070 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.
At €27,070 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 62% of compared French towns.
Viols-le-Fort: 28% of households are headed by a manager or professional, above 96% 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
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (8.8%), Viols-le-Fort is below 83% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 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).
Viols-le-Fort ranks below 84% of compared French towns on immigrants: 2.8%
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 lower than in 84% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%. 1.4% 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.
Single residents: 27%, a higher share than 65% 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
Married residents make up 42%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 96% of compared French towns: 9.7%
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
48% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. Elsewhere, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 1,229 to 2,582 people, the 21st 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).
A younger town than 3 of the 6 around it: Viols-le-Fort
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viols-le-Fort | 45.2 | 19% | 1.6% | 2.8% |
| Saint-Martin-de-Londres 2,696 · 3.5 mi | 45 | 21% | 5.4% | 4.2% |
| Vailhauquès 2,722 · 5.1 mi | 42.9 | 19% | 1.7% | 3.7% |
| Saint-Gély-du-Fesc 10,472 · 6.2 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 1.1% | 5.9% |
| Montarnaud 4,208 · 6.7 mi | 40.3 | 16% | 1.7% | 7.4% |
| Aniane 2,979 · 7.1 mi | 46.4 | 23% | 4.9% | 4.9% |
| Saint-Clément-de-Rivière 5,218 · 8.2 mi | 50.6 | 34% | 4.4% | 5.8% |
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 Viols-le-Fort
What is the population of Viols-le-Fort?
1,229 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (1,174).
How old are Viols-le-Fort’s residents?
The median age is 45.2, older than 58% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Viols-le-Fort?
10, with occasional dwellings: 1.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Viols-le-Fort?
INSEE counts 34 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.8% of residents, and 17 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Viols-le-Fort?
€27,070 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.