Photo: Daniel VILLAFRUELA · CC BY-SA 3.011% of homes stand empty, a share 85% of compared French towns don’t reach
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 30% of households are couples with children here. Unieux had 8,514 residents in 3,670 households at the 2023 census. 20% of households rent social housing (HLM), or about one in five. More flats than in 71% of compared French towns: 47%.
Throughout this page, the Loire 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 Unieux
Empty homes
The census found 470 homes empty (11%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Unieux’s population moved −3% on 2012, less than in 81% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −2%, and from 2017 to 2023 −1%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Loire town +3%.
Half of Unieux is under 42.8, younger than 59% 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
■ Unieux 42.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Unieux sits close to the norm on residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. Across Unieux, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
33% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 60% 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 median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.3 people. Single-parent households are rarer here than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. To put it in context, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
1.1% of homes are second homes, below 76% 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
In Unieux, 11% of households have no car. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%.
A typical living standard of €24,960 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 Unieux is €24,960 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 61% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 14.0% of residents.
Unieux ranks above 71% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 17%
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 manager or professional (7.5%), Unieux is below 64% of compared French towns. 35% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 65% of compared French towns. For 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).
Unieux: 6.1% 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.
The median compared commune in Loire has 5.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 53% of compared French towns. Put another way, about one in 16: 6.1% of residents are immigrants. There is little gap on foreign nationals: 4%, about the same as 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.
Married residents make up 45% in Unieux, more than in 69% 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
On the census count, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 67% of compared French towns: 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
Compared with 30% in the typical compared French town, 28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification here. Against that, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (8,429 to 8,602 people), the 18th youngest
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 Varces-Allières-et-Risset (35.8), the oldest Le Grau-du-Roi (62.3).
Unieux and its 6 nearest towns: 5 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unieux | 42.8 | 21% | 1.1% | 6.1% |
| Fraisses 3,872 · 1.2 mi | 44.9 | 23% | 1.1% | 3.3% |
| Firminy 17,060 · 1.3 mi | 46.1 | 27% | 1.2% | 15% |
| Le Chambon-Feugerolles 12,314 · 2.8 mi | 42.8 | 24% | 1.6% | 13% |
| Roche-la-Molière 9,843 · 3 mi | 47 | 25% | 0.7% | 6.7% |
| Aurec-sur-Loire 6,164 · 3.9 mi | 45.7 | 24% | 6.4% | 3% |
| Saint-Just-Malmont 4,239 · 4.6 mi | 44.2 | 20% | 4.1% | 2.7% |
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 Unieux
What is the population of Unieux?
8,514 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (8,761).
How old are Unieux’s residents?
The median age is 42.8, younger than 59% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Unieux?
47, with occasional dwellings: 1.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Unieux?
INSEE counts 520 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.1% of residents, and 340 foreign nationals (4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Unieux?
€24,960 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 14.0% 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 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.