Fewer flats than 97% of compared French towns: 4.4%
With a median age of 49.4, Lessay is older than just over four fifths of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 2,278 residents and 1,080 households locally. Locally, 25% of households are headed by a manual worker. Where 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Lessay has 26%.
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.
Lessay changed by +1% from 2012 to 2023, behind 66% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Manche town ±0%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 78% of compared French towns: 28%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lessay 49.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.9%, below nearly two thirds of compared French towns. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A smaller share of couples with children than 78% of compared French towns: 19%
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
The share of one-person households is 38%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. 8.9% of households are single parents, fewer than in 68% of compared French towns. For couples with children, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%. Average household size: 2.1 people.
8.2% of homes are second homes, a share 86% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
9.6% of households moved in less than two years ago; 17% have been in their home 30 years or more. For comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. On empty homes, Lessay sits higher than 78% of compared French towns: 9.9%. Meanwhile, in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households have no car; in the town, 8.5%.
Standard of living at the median: €23,210 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €23,210 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 80% of compared French towns. One measure of hardship: 15.0% of residents are below the poverty line.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 3.3% in Lessay, less than in 96% 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 32% in the typical compared French town, 43% of households are headed by a retired person here. The wider picture: 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.3% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 98% 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 share of foreign nationals is 0.8%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 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 98% 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.
Lessay ranks below 66% of compared French towns on single residents: 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
Here, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 12%, a lower share than 99% of compared French towns
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 31% in Lessay and 19% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 14th oldest of 41 French towns of 2,278 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).
Older than Lessay: 3 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lessay | 49.4 | 28% | 8.2% | 1.3% |
| La Haye 4,029 · 5.5 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 21% | 2.5% |
| Saint-Sauveur-Villages 3,208 · 8.1 mi | 47.4 | 25% | 8.1% | 1.8% |
| Gouville-sur-Mer 3,274 · 8.4 mi | 56 | 36% | 26% | 1.5% |
| Port-Bail-sur-Mer 2,520 · 10.6 mi | 59.5 | 40% | 52% | 2.4% |
| Coutances 8,321 · 12.2 mi | 49 | 28% | 3.9% | 5.6% |
| Picauville 3,228 · 12.3 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 Lessay
What is the population of Lessay?
2,278 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (2,259).
How old are Lessay’s residents?
The median age is 49.4, older than 81% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lessay?
110, with occasional dwellings: 8.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lessay?
INSEE counts 29 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.3% of residents, and 17 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lessay?
€23,210 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 15.0% 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 October 30, 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.