38% of homes are second homes, more than in 96% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Lestre’s population at 242, in 110 households. Locally, 4.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional. Here 29% of households are one person living alone, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 35%.
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 Lestre
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 79 second homes and occasional dwellings in Lestre, 38% of its 210 homes: higher than in 96% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Lestre had 269 residents at the 2012 census and 242 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A smaller share of flats than 99% of compared French towns: 1%
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
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in Lestre comes in at 7.6%. The share of flats in the typical compared French town is 30%. Put another way, about one in ten: one in ten homes stand empty.
Lestre’s population moved −10% on 2012, less than in 97% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −8%, and from 2017 to 2023 −2%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Manche town ±0%.
A median age of 46.2: Lestre is older than 65% 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
■ Lestre 46.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, against 9.7% in Lestre. Across Lestre, 21% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 77 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
A higher share of couples with children than 86% of compared French towns, at 32%
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
There are 2.3 people in the average household. As a reference point, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Lestre has fewer single-parent households than 58% of compared French towns, at 9.6%.
Standard of living at the median: €23,340 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 median standard of living in Lestre is €23,340 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
More households headed by a retired person than 79% of compared French towns: 38%
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
19% of households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.2% of residents are immigrants, below 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 median compared commune in Manche has 2.4%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 98% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Across Lestre, 0.4% of residents are foreign nationals.
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 62% of compared French towns: 24%
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
Married residents: 43% of the total. The wider picture: a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 17% in Lestre, less than in 93% 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
Here 25% of adults out of school have no qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 19%. On average, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 242 to 2,582 people: this is the 18th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Around Lestre, 5 of 6 towns have a higher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lestre | 46.2 | 21% | 38% | 1.2% |
| Valognes 6,969 · 7 mi | 51 | 29% | 2.4% | 1.6% |
| Sainte-Mère-Église 2,896 · 8 mi | 53.1 | 31% | 18% | 1.6% |
| Picauville 3,228 · 10.9 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 7.7% | 2.8% |
| Bricquebec-en-Cotentin 5,893 · 15.1 mi | 47 | 25% | 4.6% | 1.3% |
| Carentan-les-Marais 10,218 · 15.6 mi | 49.1 | 28% | 5% | 2.4% |
| Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 78,258 · 16 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 3.6% | 4.9% |
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 Lestre
What is the population of Lestre?
242 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (269).
How old are Lestre’s residents?
The median age is 46.2, older than 65% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lestre?
79, with occasional dwellings: 38% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lestre?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.2% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lestre?
€23,340 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 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.