Fewer flats than 99% of compared French towns: 0.3%
Where just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town, Le Mesnil-au-Val has 2.9%. Few places have so few households in social housing: 1.7% here, fewer than in 97% of compared French towns. The town is home to 729 residents in 300 households, by the 2023 Census. Put another way, about one in four: 23% of households are one person living alone.
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 Le Mesnil-au-Val
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 5% single parents with children; 19% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Le Mesnil-au-Val grew +6% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 56% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, ±0% in Manche.
Half of Le Mesnil-au-Val is under 41.1, younger than 72% 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
■ Le Mesnil-au-Val 41.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Le Mesnil-au-Val has 19%. For Le Mesnil-au-Val, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 10%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 110 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
In Le Mesnil-au-Val, 34% of households are couples with children, more than in 90% 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
5% of households are single parents, against 10% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.4 people.
Empty homes make up 3.8% in Le Mesnil-au-Val, less than in 90% 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
Turnover: 4.3% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 25% have lived in their home 30 years or more. Typically, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Second homes make up 2%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €28,820 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 Le Mesnil-au-Val’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €28,820 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 77% of compared French towns.
Below 93% of compared French towns: 21% 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
Nearly a fifth of households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). For Le Mesnil-au-Val, the census puts households headed by a manual worker at 15%. The usual figure: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 99% of compared French towns: 1.1% 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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Le Mesnil-au-Val, 1.4%. Across the comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
More married residents than 92% of compared French towns: 50%
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
Single residents: 21%, below 86% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Below 84% of compared French towns: 13% of adults out of school have no 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
Graduates of higher education account for 29%. For comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 4th 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).
Le Mesnil-au-Val 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Mesnil-au-Val | 41.1 | 19% | 2% | 1.1% |
| Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 78,258 · 4.9 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 3.6% | 4.9% |
| Valognes 6,969 · 7.3 mi | 51 | 29% | 2.4% | 1.6% |
| Bricquebec-en-Cotentin 5,893 · 10.8 mi | 47 | 25% | 4.6% | 1.3% |
| La Hague 11,484 · 12.2 mi | 45.5 | 19% | 14% | 1.1% |
| Les Pieux 3,249 · 14.4 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 15% | 2.7% |
| Sainte-Mère-Église 2,896 · 16.9 mi | 53.1 | 31% | 18% | 1.6% |
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 Le Mesnil-au-Val
What is the population of Le Mesnil-au-Val?
729 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (687).
How old are Le Mesnil-au-Val’s residents?
The median age is 41.1, younger than 72% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Le Mesnil-au-Val?
7, with occasional dwellings: 2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Le Mesnil-au-Val?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 10 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Le Mesnil-au-Val?
€28,820 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 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.