A lower share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns, at 1.5%
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 7.4%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 297 residents and 140 households in Meslay. In Meslay, 2.5% of homes are flats. This Loir-et-Cher town has more households headed by a retired person than 94% of compared French towns, at 46%.
Throughout this page, the Loir-et-Cher 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 Meslay
An older town
Half of Meslay’s residents are under 52.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 35% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.4% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 79% of compared French towns: Meslay 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
The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Loir-et-Cher town −3%.
Meslay is older than 89% of compared French towns: a median age of 52.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Meslay 52.1. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 35% in Meslay and 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 114 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loir-et-Cher 52.4%, France 51.8%.
Above 93% of compared French towns: 14% of households are single parents
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 Loir-et-Cher median and the France median
Living alone · share
One-person households: 32% here and 35% in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, couples with children are scarce here: 21%, fewer than in 68% of compared French towns. Typically, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. A household here holds 2.2 people on average.
8.9% of homes stand empty, more than in 72% 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
3.8% of homes are second homes, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 6.7% of homes stand empty. Long tenure is the mark of 38% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 4.4% (under two years). Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Standard of living at the median: €27,370 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 €27,370 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 65% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manual worker than 90% of compared French towns, at 7.1%
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 11% in Meslay and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Meslay, 1% of residents are foreign nationals, fewer than in 94% 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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Loir-et-Cher has 6%. As a reference point, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Here, 3.4% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Meslay ranks below 99% of compared French towns on single residents: 15%
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
Compared with 43% in the typical compared French town, nearly three in five residents 15 and over are married here. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
16% of adults out of school have no qualification, fewer than in 68% of compared French towns
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 figure for graduates of higher education is 33% in Meslay and 30% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification.
Of 41 French towns its size (297 to 2,582 people), the 9th 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Older than Meslay: 3 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meslay | 52.1 | 35% | 3.8% | 3.4% |
| Saint-Ouen 3,041 · 1.1 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 1.6% | 7.1% |
| Vendôme 15,758 · 2 mi | 51.1 | 31% | 3% | 11% |
| Montoire-sur-le-Loir 3,646 · 11.6 mi | 58.8 | 40% | 6.6% | 3% |
| Cloyes-les-Trois-Rivières 5,607 · 14.8 mi | 52.7 | 31% | 9.1% | 3.1% |
| Villebarou 2,584 · 16.6 mi | 44.6 | 20% | 1.3% | 9.3% |
| Château-Renault 4,392 · 17.6 mi | 50.8 | 29% | 2.2% | 5.7% |
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 Meslay
What is the population of Meslay?
297 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (304).
How old are Meslay’s residents?
The median age is 52.1, older than 89% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 35% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Meslay?
6, with occasional dwellings: 3.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Meslay?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.4% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Meslay?
€27,370 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.