More couples with children than 99% of compared French towns: 44%
In Couvains, 0.7% of homes are flats, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. The 2023 Census counted 562 residents in 220 households. Across Couvains, 1.5% of households have no car. At 20%, the share of households headed by a retired person is lower than in 95% of compared French towns.
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 Couvains
A town of families
44% of households are couples with children and 4.2% single parents with children; 24% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
A young town
Half of Couvains’ residents are under 37.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 24% are under 15 and 15% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Growing fast
Couvains had 457 residents at the 2012 census and 562 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.
From 2012 to 2023, Couvains 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +11%, and from 2017 to 2023 +11%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Manche town ±0%.
Couvains is younger than 90% of compared French towns: a median age of 37.3
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Couvains 37.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 22% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Couvains comes in at 15%.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 115 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 4.2%, a lower share than 99% 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
A household here holds 2.6 people on average. Measured more widely, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Couvains has fewer one-person households than 91% of compared French towns, at 26%.
Couvains sits above 78% of compared French towns for second homes (5.4%)
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
Households that moved in under two years ago: 11%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 20%. The usual figure: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, empty homes are common here: 8.4%, more than in just over two thirds of compared French towns.
€25,570 a year is the median standard of living here
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 midpoint of living standards here is €25,570 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 54% of compared French towns.
Couvains sits above 97% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (26%)
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
The share of households headed by a manager or professional trails 63% of compared French towns: 7.6%. On average, 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).
Fewer immigrants than 79% of compared French towns: 3.3%
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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Couvains comes in at 2.3%. Elsewhere, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Manche has 2.4%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in nearly 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 20% in Couvains, less than in 90% 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
Where 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, Couvains has 46%. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Couvains sits below 66% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (26%)
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
The figure for adults with no qualification is 16% in Couvains and 19% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 2nd youngest of 41 French towns this size
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).
Couvains is younger than every town 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Couvains | 37.3 | 15% | 5.4% | 3.3% |
| Saint-Lô 19,471 · 5 mi | 43.3 | 24% | 2.2% | 6.2% |
| Saint-Jean-d'Elle 2,516 · 5.3 mi | 43 | 20% | 2.8% | 0.9% |
| Agneaux 4,286 · 6.1 mi | 49.8 | 29% | 1.3% | 3.2% |
| Le Molay-Littry 3,124 · 7.8 mi | 50.4 | 28% | 3.3% | 1.4% |
| Condé-sur-Vire 4,137 · 8.1 mi | 46.2 | 24% | 2.5% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Amand-Villages 2,525 · 8.6 mi | 45.8 | 21% | 3.1% | 2% |
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 Couvains
What is the population of Couvains?
562 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 23% more than in 2012 (457).
How old are Couvains’ residents?
The median age is 37.3, younger than 90% of compared French towns. 28% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Couvains?
14, with occasional dwellings: 5.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Couvains?
INSEE counts 19 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.3% of residents, and 13 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Couvains?
€25,570 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). 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.