Le Vast ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 0.9%
Households without a car make up 2.6%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, couples with children are common here: 33%, more than in 87% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Le Vast was home to 321 people in 150 households. 48% of households are headed by a retired person.
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 Vast
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 57 second homes and occasional dwellings in Le Vast, 26% of its 220 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 98% 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.
26% of homes in Le Vast are second homes
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 in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. For Le Vast, the census puts empty homes at 9%.
Le Vast changed by +3% from 2012 to 2023, behind 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Manche town ±0%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +4%; from 2017 to 2023, −1%.
Older than 75% of compared French towns: half of Le Vast is over 48.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Le Vast 48.1. The median compared French town: 44.
23% of residents are 65 or over; in the typical compared French town the figure is 22%. On residents aged 15 to 24, Le Vast sits lower than 64% of compared French towns: 10%.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Le Vast ranks below 62% of compared French towns on one-person households: 33%
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
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Households here average 2.2 people each. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
At the median, €25,040 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.
At €25,040 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 60% of compared French towns.
The largest group of households: retired (48%)
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 manual worker are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Census figures put households headed by a manager or professional at 10% in Le Vast.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 73% of compared French towns, at 4%
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 share of foreign nationals stands at 3.7%. 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.
Below 96% of compared French towns: 19% of residents 15 and over are single
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
By its share of married residents (41%), Le Vast is below 65% of compared French towns. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Only 17% of adults out of school have no qualification in Le Vast
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
For Le Vast, the census puts graduates of higher education at 30%. As a reference point, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
15th highest median age among 41 French towns of 321 to 2,582
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 Vast sits below 3 of its 5 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Vast | 48.1 | 23% | 26% | 4% |
| Valognes 6,969 · 9 mi | 51 | 29% | 2.4% | 1.6% |
| Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 78,258 · 12 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 3.6% | 4.9% |
| Sainte-Mère-Église 2,896 · 14.8 mi | 53.1 | 31% | 18% | 1.6% |
| Bricquebec-en-Cotentin 5,893 · 16.2 mi | 47 | 25% | 4.6% | 1.3% |
| Picauville 3,228 · 16.9 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 7.7% | 2.8% |
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 Vast
What is the population of Le Vast?
321 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (313).
How old are Le Vast’s residents?
The median age is 48.1, older than 75% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Le Vast?
57, with occasional dwellings: 26% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Le Vast?
INSEE counts 13 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4% of residents, and 12 foreign nationals (3.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Le Vast?
€25,040 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.