Only 12% of households are couples with children in Coutances
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 15% of residents are 15 to 24 in Coutances. More flats than in 77% of compared French towns: 52%. There were 4,240 households locally at the 2023 Census, home to 8,321 residents. 36% of households are headed by a retired person, or about one in three.
Throughout this page, the Manche 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 Coutances
Many people living alone
54% of Coutances’ households are one person: higher than in 97% of compared French towns; 39% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Coutances had 9,114 residents at the 2012 census and 8,321 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Social housing
33% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 26% rent privately and 39% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 590 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Coutances changed by −9% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 96% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% for the median Manche town, the change came in two steps: −7% from 2012 to 2017, then −2% to 2023.
Older than 79% of compared French towns: half of Coutances is over 49
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Coutances 49. The median compared French town: 44.
28% of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%).
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Coutances, 54% of households are one person living alone, more than in 97% 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 Manche median and the France median
Living alone · share
Just over one in ten households are single parents (typical compared French town: 10%). A household here holds 1.8 people on average. In the typical compared French town, 35% of households are one person living alone.
Coutances sits above 95% of compared French towns for households in social housing (33%)
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
3.9% of homes are second homes, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. On empty homes, Coutances sits higher than 87% of compared French towns: 12%. The share of households without a car stands at 19%.
Half above, half below €22,630 a year in standard of living
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 Coutances’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €22,630 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 84% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 21.0%.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 61% of compared French towns: 7.8%
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
Few places have so few households headed by a manual worker: 13% here, fewer than in 54% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional 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 5.6% of Coutances’ residents
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 58% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Manche has 2.4%. About one in 18: that is how common immigrants are in Coutances (5.6%). Foreign nationals are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 4.7%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Coutances sits below 99% of compared French towns for married residents (28%)
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 25% in the typical compared French town, 38% of residents 15 and over are single here. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Coutances ranks above 84% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 27%
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
25% of Coutances’ residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 27% have no diploma (19%).
11th highest median age among 41 French towns of 8,202 to 8,443
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Mazingarbe is the youngest (35.8); Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie the oldest (63.7).
Coutances is younger than 3 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coutances | 49 | 28% | 3.9% | 5.6% |
| Quettreville-sur-Sienne 3,167 · 5.5 mi | 47.1 | 24% | 9.5% | 2% |
| Saint-Sauveur-Villages 3,208 · 5.8 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 8.1% | 1.8% |
| Agon-Coutainville 3,020 · 6.6 mi | 63.8 | 48% | 53% | 2.3% |
| Gouville-sur-Mer 3,274 · 6.7 mi | 56 | 36% | 26% | 1.5% |
| Marigny-Le-Lozon 2,761 · 9.6 mi | 43.7 | 24% | 2.1% | 1.1% |
| Bréhal 3,487 · 11.4 mi | 60.1 | 42% | 31% | 1.4% |
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 Coutances
What is the population of Coutances?
8,321 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (9,114).
How old are Coutances’ residents?
The median age is 49, older than 79% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Coutances?
200, with occasional dwellings: 3.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Coutances?
INSEE counts 460 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.6% of residents, and 390 foreign nationals (4.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Coutances?
€22,630 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.0% 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.