Households headed by a manager or professional make up 22% in Vertou, more than in 90% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households is 35%; Vertou has 32%. On the census count, 4.6% of homes stand empty. At 8.5%, the share of households in social housing is lower than in just over two thirds of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 26,227, in 11,540 households.
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 Vertou
Growing fast
Vertou had 22,307 residents at the 2012 census and 26,227 in 2023, up 18%: faster growth than in 87% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A growing town: +18% since 2012, faster than 87% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Loire-Atlantique town +14%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +9%; from 2017 to 2023, +8%.
Vertou is younger than 54% of compared French towns: a median age of 43.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vertou 43.4. The median compared French town: 44.
In Vertou, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24. Nothing unusual on residents aged 65 and over: 22%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Loire-Atlantique 51.0%, France 51.8%.
More couples with children than 65% of compared French towns: 28%
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 2.2 people. On single-parent households, Vertou sits lower than just over three quarters of compared French towns: 8.3%. Couples with children make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Below 62% of compared French towns: 8.6% of households have no car
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
Second homes are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 1.7%. In the typical compared French town, 11% of households have no car. The share of flats stands at 24%.
A median standard of living of €31,190 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.
At €31,190 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 6.6% of residents live below the poverty line INSEE uses.
Fewer households headed by a manual worker than 84% of compared French towns: 8.8%
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
Census figures put households headed by a retired person at 31% in Vertou. Across the comparison, 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).
Immigrants make up 4.8% in Vertou, less than in 66% 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.
Foreign nationals: 3.3% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 48% in Vertou, more than in 84% 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
Single residents make up 23%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 46% in Vertou, more than in 89% 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 Vertou, 12% of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
12th highest median age among 41 French towns of 25,115 to 27,406
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Grigny (31), the youngest, and Biarritz (55.2), the oldest.
2 of 6 neighbors are older than Vertou
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vertou | 43.4 | 22% | 1.7% | 4.8% |
| Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire 28,596 · 2.4 mi | 40.8 | 21% | 1.6% | 7.3% |
| Les Sorinières 9,275 · 2.5 mi | 41 | 19% | 0.6% | 5% |
| Basse-Goulaine 9,679 · 2.6 mi | 44.7 | 21% | 0.7% | 4.1% |
| Haute-Goulaine 6,095 · 3.2 mi | 46.4 | 21% | 0.7% | 2.4% |
| Rezé 43,556 · 3.3 mi | 40.4 | 19% | 2% | 8% |
| La Haie-Fouassière 4,775 · 3.9 mi | 42.7 | 17% | 6% | 2.3% |
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 Vertou
What is the population of Vertou?
26,227 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 18% more than in 2012 (22,307).
How old are Vertou’s residents?
The median age is 43.4, younger than 54% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vertou?
200, with occasional dwellings: 1.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vertou?
INSEE counts 1,260 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.8% of residents, and 860 foreign nationals (3.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vertou?
€31,190 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 6.6% 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 9, 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.