Martinvast ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 2%
In Martinvast, 2.6% of households rent social housing (HLM), beside 12% in the typical compared French town. This Manche town counted 1,348 residents and 560 households at the 2023 Census. Households without a car make up about one in 29 here (3.5%). 26% of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 92% of compared French towns.
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.
Growth of +11% since 2012 puts Martinvast ahead of 72% 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
Here the change came as +4% to 2017, then +6% to 2023. Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, ±0% in Manche.
Only 8% of residents are 15 to 24 in Martinvast
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Martinvast 46.3. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Martinvast is 46.3, higher than in 65% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 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%.
In Martinvast, 6.4% of households are single parents, fewer than in 94% 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
There are 2.3 people in the average household. Martinvast has more couples with children than 78% of compared French towns, at 31%. For comparison, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Empty homes: 5.6%, a lower share than 66% 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
At 1.5%, second homes sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, empty homes come to 6.7%. Newcomers of less than two years account for 14% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 25%.
At the median, €30,570 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €30,570 a year: higher than in 87% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a manager or professional than 67% of compared French towns: 13%
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
Set against 32% in the typical compared French town, 30% of households are headed by a retired person in Martinvast. On average, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town. Across Martinvast, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 99% of compared French towns: 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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Martinvast has 0.5%. Immigrants make up 6.5% 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.
19% of residents 15 and over are single, below 96% of compared French towns
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: 51%, above 95% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Above 57% of compared French towns: 32% of adults out of school hold a higher-education 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
Adults with no qualification: 18% of the total. For comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 18th oldest of 41 French towns of 1,348 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Martinvast sits below 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martinvast | 46.3 | 23% | 1.5% | 1% |
| Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 78,258 · 3.1 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 3.6% | 4.9% |
| La Hague 11,484 · 7.1 mi | 45.5 | 19% | 14% | 1.1% |
| Bricquebec-en-Cotentin 5,893 · 8.7 mi | 47 | 25% | 4.6% | 1.3% |
| Les Pieux 3,249 · 9.1 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 15% | 2.7% |
| Valognes 6,969 · 10.3 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 Martinvast
What is the population of Martinvast?
1,348 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% more than in 2012 (1,218).
How old are Martinvast’s residents?
The median age is 46.3, older than 65% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Martinvast?
9, with occasional dwellings: 1.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Martinvast?
INSEE counts 13 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1% of residents, and 7 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Martinvast?
€30,570 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.