Older than 96% of compared French towns: half of Mézos is over 56.6
Against a figure of 12% in the typical compared French town, the share of households in social housing in Mézos comes in at 3.5%. 15% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 90% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 868 people lived in the town, in 460 households. Households headed by a manager or professional make up about one in 18 here (5.5%).
Throughout this page, the Landes 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 Mézos
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 240 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mézos, 33% of its 730 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 93% 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 Mézos’ residents are under 56.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 36% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Mézos: 33% of homes are second homes, above 95% of compared French towns
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
One household in 14 has no car (median compared French town: 11%). Second homes make up 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in 12: 8.6% of homes are flats. Few places have so few households without a car: 7.2% here, fewer than in 71% of compared French towns.
Slower growth than 60% of compared French towns: Mézos changed by +2% since 2012
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 −3%, and from 2017 to 2023 +5%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Landes town +9%.
In Mézos, 6% 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
■ Mézos 56.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 36% here and 22% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Landes 51.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Mézos sits above 76% of compared French towns for one-person households (42%)
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 Landes median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 1.9 people on average. Against that, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. On single-parent households, Mézos sits lower than 83% of compared French towns: 7.7%.
Median living standard: €24,490 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.
The median standard of living in Mézos is €24,490 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 66% of compared French towns.
52% of households are headed by a retired person, a share 98% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 share of households headed by a manual worker trails 83% of compared French towns: 8.8%. Households headed by a retired person: 32% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Mézos: 7.8% of residents are immigrants, above 59% of compared French towns
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 figure for foreign nationals is 5.3% in Mézos and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents make up 19% in Mézos, less than in 97% 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
46% of residents 15 and over are married; in the typical compared French town the figure is 43%. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 68% of compared French towns, at 16%
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
Where 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, Mézos has 27%. The share of adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Ranked by age, 5th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Mézos 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mézos | 56.6 | 36% | 33% | 7.8% |
| Mimizan 7,673 · 10.2 mi | 56.3 | 36% | 47% | 6.4% |
| Morcenx-la-Nouvelle 5,022 · 12.5 mi | 55.9 | 34% | 5.9% | 7.1% |
| Castets 2,516 · 13.2 mi | 47.3 | 24% | 7.5% | 7.6% |
| Labouheyre 2,906 · 15.2 mi | 47.3 | 26% | 5.3% | 16% |
| Rion-des-Landes 3,142 · 15.4 mi | 49.9 | 28% | 6.7% | 5.1% |
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 Mézos
What is the population of Mézos?
868 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (847).
How old are Mézos’ residents?
The median age is 56.6, older than 96% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mézos?
240, with occasional dwellings: 33% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mézos?
INSEE counts 68 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.8% of residents, and 46 foreign nationals (5.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mézos?
€24,490 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.