Photo: Daniel Jolivet · CC BY 2.015% of homes are second homes, a share 91% of compared French towns don’t reach
Set against 14% in the typical compared French town, 8.2% of households are headed by a manual worker in Les Pieux. 7.8% of homes are flats, or about one in 13. More households in social housing than in 86% of compared French towns: 25%. Its 1,480 households held 3,249 residents at the 2023 Census.
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 Les Pieux
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 300 second homes and occasional dwellings in Les Pieux, 15% of its 2,070 homes: higher than in 91% of compared French towns. 70% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 290 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Les Pieux had 3,404 residents at the 2012 census and 3,249 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 87% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Les Pieux: 14% of homes stand empty, above 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
Households without a car: 9.2%, below 58% of compared French towns. 11% of households moved in less than two years ago; 20% have been in their home 30 years or more. As a yardstick, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
From 2012 to 2023, 87% of compared French towns grew faster than Les Pieux: −5%
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
Below 84% of compared French towns: 8.8% of residents are 15 to 24
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Les Pieux 44.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, against 20% in Les Pieux. The median age in the town is 44.3, higher than in 52% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Below 54% of compared French towns: 34% of households are one person living alone
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 2.2 people on average. For one-person households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 35%. Compared with other places, couples with children are common here: 25%, more than in just over half of compared French towns. At 10%, the share of single-parent households is in line with the figure in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €27,970 a year per consumption unit
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 Les Pieux’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €27,970 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 70% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 9.0%.
Les Pieux: 38% of households are headed by a retired person, above 77% of compared French towns
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
Compared with 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 12% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. Measured more widely, 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).
In Les Pieux, 2.7% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 85% of compared French towns
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 85% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. About one in 59: that is how common foreign nationals are in Les Pieux (1.7%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer single residents than 69% of compared French towns: 23%
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 other places, married residents are scarce here: 43%, fewer than in just over half of compared French towns. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A higher share of graduates of higher education than 56% of compared French towns, at 32%
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
Adults with no qualification are rarer here than in 53% of compared French towns. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
Of 41 French towns its size (3,222 to 3,275 people), the 14th youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 32.2 in Ormoy to 68.1 in Jard-sur-Mer.
Les Pieux and its 5 nearest towns: 4 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Les Pieux | 44.3 | 20% | 15% | 2.7% |
| Bricquebec-en-Cotentin 5,893 · 8.1 mi | 47 | 25% | 4.6% | 1.3% |
| La Hague 11,484 · 9.8 mi | 45.5 | 19% | 14% | 1.1% |
| Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 78,258 · 12.1 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 3.6% | 4.9% |
| Port-Bail-sur-Mer 2,520 · 13.6 mi | 59.5 | 40% | 52% | 2.4% |
| Valognes 6,969 · 15.4 mi | 51 | 29% | 2.4% | 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 Les Pieux
What is the population of Les Pieux?
3,249 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (3,404).
How old are Les Pieux’s residents?
The median age is 44.3, older than 52% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Les Pieux?
300, with occasional dwellings: 15% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Les Pieux?
INSEE counts 88 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.7% of residents, and 56 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Les Pieux?
€27,970 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 9.0% 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.