Photo: User:civodule · CC BY-SA 3.0A larger share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 96% of compared French towns: 16%
Against a figure of 2.1% in the typical compared French town, the share of second homes in Mende comes in at 6.6%. The town’s 6,390 households held 12,464 residents at the 2023 Census. 18% of households are couples with children. On households headed by a retired person, Mende sits lower than 70% of compared French towns: 29%.
Throughout this page, the Lozère 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 Mende
Many people living alone
50% of Mende’s households are one person: higher than in 93% of compared French towns; 36% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Mende changed by +5% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 51% 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
The first five years brought +2%; the six to 2023, +3%.
A median age of 42.6: Mende is younger than 61% 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
■ Mende 42.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over account for 21%.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Lozère 51.3%, France 51.8%.
In Mende, 50% of households are one person living alone, more than in 93% 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 Lozère median and the France median
Living alone · share
7.5% of households are single parents, against 10% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households here average 1.9 people each.
59% of homes are flats, a share 83% 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
Compared with 12% in the typical compared French town, 19% of households rent social housing (HLM) here. In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats. Households without a car account for 16%. Fewer empty homes than in 62% of compared French towns: 5.8%.
Median standard of living: €25,380 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 €25,380 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 56% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 14.0%.
Mende sits below 65% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (12%)
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
On households headed by a manager or professional, Mende sits lower than 56% of compared French towns: 8.5%. Typically, 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).
11% of residents are foreign nationals, more than in 85% 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 immigrants is 13% in Mende and 6.5% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for foreign nationals in the typical compared French town: 4.3%. The median compared commune in Lozère has 7.7%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in four fifths of compared French towns.
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 33% in Mende, more than in 89% 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
Married residents: 38% here and 43% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of graduates of higher education than 69% of compared French towns, at 36%
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
Here 17% of adults out of school have no qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 19%. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 12,199 to 12,731 people: this is 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.
Villetaneuse is the youngest (33.2); Andernos-les-Bains the oldest (60).
Mende and the towns 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mende | 42.6 | 21% | 6.6% | 13% |
| Marvejols 4,764 · 10.2 mi | 50.7 | 30% | 11% | 9.7% |
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 Mende
What is the population of Mende?
12,464 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (11,908).
How old are Mende’s residents?
The median age is 42.6, younger than 61% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mende?
480, with occasional dwellings: 6.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mende?
INSEE counts 1,570 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 1,410 foreign nationals (11%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mende?
€25,380 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 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.