Half of Mesquer is over 59.8, older than 98% of compared French towns
In Mesquer, 3.2% of homes stand empty, beside 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Across Mesquer, half of households are headed by a retired person. 16% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 89% of compared French towns. The town had 2,171 residents in 1,100 households at the 2023 census.
Throughout this page, the Loire-Atlantique 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 Mesquer
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 1,980 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mesquer, 62% of its 3,180 homes: higher than in 99% of compared French towns. 92% 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 Mesquer’s residents are under 59.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 38% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Growing fast
Mesquer had 1,759 residents at the 2012 census and 2,171 in 2023, up 23%: faster growth than in 93% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
62% of homes are second homes, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in Mesquer comes in at 6.6%. The comparison figure for second homes is 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Flats account for 7.8%. Fewer households in social housing than in 72% of compared French towns: 7.7%.
From 2012 to 2023, Mesquer outgrew 93% of compared French towns: +23%
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 Loire-Atlantique town +14%. The change was +10% from 2012 to 2017 and +12% from 2017 to 2023.
A lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 99% of compared French towns, at 5.6%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mesquer 59.8. The median compared French town: 44.
38% of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%). The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire-Atlantique 51.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Mesquer, 7.2% of households are single parents, fewer than in 88% 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 Loire-Atlantique median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2 people. One-person households are rarer here than in 59% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, single-parent households come to 10%.
Median standard of living: €28,570 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €28,570 a year: higher than in 75% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 9.0% of residents.
Only 7.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Mesquer
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
Just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker (typical compared French town: 14%). In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 96% of compared French towns: 1.5% of 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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 1% in Mesquer. Typically, 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.
Below 99% of compared French towns: 14% of residents 15 and over are single
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 median compared French town 43% are married and 6.1% in a PACS; here it is 58% and 3.6%, and 8.9% are widowed. Set beside that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 13% in Mesquer, less than in 82% 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
In Mesquer, a third of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 2,171 to 2,582 people, the 4th 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).
Older than Mesquer: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesquer | 59.8 | 38% | 62% | 1.5% |
| Saint-Molf 2,870 · 2.4 mi | 43.6 | 18% | 13% | 1.6% |
| Piriac-sur-Mer 2,685 · 3.3 mi | 63.6 | 47% | 64% | 2.1% |
| La Turballe 4,850 · 3.7 mi | 60.2 | 40% | 52% | 1.5% |
| Guérande 16,804 · 5.4 mi | 50.7 | 28% | 13% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Lyphard 5,304 · 6.6 mi | 42.5 | 20% | 5.8% | 1.4% |
| Le Croisic 4,056 · 7.8 mi | 65.7 | 51% | 59% | 2.8% |
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 Mesquer
What is the population of Mesquer?
2,171 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 23% more than in 2012 (1,759).
How old are Mesquer’s residents?
The median age is 59.8, older than 98% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 38% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mesquer?
1,980, with occasional dwellings: 62% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mesquer?
INSEE counts 33 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.5% of residents, and 23 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mesquer?
€28,570 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 9.0% 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 8, 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.