1.7% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
One-person households make up 32%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. Gouvets had 295 residents in 120 households at the 2023 census. Locally, 4.8% of households have no car. Nearly a fifth of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 68% 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 Gouvets
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 35 second homes and occasional dwellings in Gouvets, 20% of its 170 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Gouvets, 20% of homes are second homes, more than in 93% 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
Empty homes are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 7.6%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Against that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 8.9% moved in during the last two years and 26% have stayed three decades or more.
A growing town: +7% since 2012, faster than 59% 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 change was −2% from 2012 to 2017 and +9% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Manche town ±0%.
Older than 65% of compared French towns: half of Gouvets is over 46.3
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gouvets 46.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Gouvets comes in at 9.3%.
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 117 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
33% of households are couples with children, a share 86% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 2.4 people on average. For comparison, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
At the median, €22,630 a year to live on
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 Gouvets’ 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.
Below 95% of compared French towns: 20% of households are headed by a retired person
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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The usual figure: nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. The census found that 24% of households are headed by a manual worker in Gouvets.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A smaller share of immigrants than 66% of compared French towns: 4.7%
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 Manche has 2.4%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 66% of compared French towns. Put another way, about one in 21: 4.7% of residents are foreign nationals. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
21% of residents 15 and over are single, below 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
47% are married and 11% in a PACS, against 43% and 6.1% in the median compared French town; 3.4% are widowed. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Below 85% of compared French towns: 20% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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 Gouvets, 21% of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
The 18th oldest of 41 French towns of 295 to 2,582 people
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 Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Of the 6 towns nearest Gouvets, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gouvets | 46.3 | 19% | 20% | 4.7% |
| Percy-en-Normandie 2,641 · 4.5 mi | 50.5 | 31% | 6.3% | 4.1% |
| Noues de Sienne 4,207 · 7.4 mi | 51.8 | 28% | 12% | 4.9% |
| Torigny-les-Villes 4,444 · 8.1 mi | 45.4 | 25% | 2.6% | 1.1% |
| Bourgvallées 3,326 · 8.2 mi | 43.1 | 21% | 3.3% | 2.1% |
| Condé-sur-Vire 4,137 · 8.7 mi | 46.2 | 24% | 2.5% | 1.4% |
| Villedieu-les-Poêles-Rouffigny 3,903 · 8.9 mi | 51.9 | 33% | 8.2% | 5.4% |
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 Gouvets
What is the population of Gouvets?
295 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% more than in 2012 (276).
How old are Gouvets’ residents?
The median age is 46.3, older than 65% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gouvets?
35, with occasional dwellings: 20% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gouvets?
INSEE counts 14 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.7% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (4.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gouvets?
€22,630 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.