1.1% of households have no car, below 99% of compared French towns
6.8% of residents are 15 to 24, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Locally, 1.5% of households are single parents. Lower than in 80% of compared French towns: 6.4% of households rent social housing (HLM). At the 2023 Census, 743 people lived in Vains, in 340 households.
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 Vains
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 110 second homes and occasional dwellings in Vains, 23% of its 480 homes: higher than in 94% 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 ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
1.6% of homes are flats, below 99% 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
2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town, against 23% in Vains. The comparison figure for flats is 30% in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 8% moved in during the last two years and 22% have stayed three decades or more. Fewer empty homes than in just over three fifths of compared French towns: 5.9%.
From 2012 to 2023, 66% of compared French towns grew faster than Vains: +1%
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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, ±0% in Manche. Here the change came as −2% to 2017, then +3% to 2023.
A median age of 48.5: Vains is older than 77% 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
■ Vains 48.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 28%, above 80% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
29% of households are couples with children, more than in 73% 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
On average, 2.2 people share a household. Set beside that, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few one-person households: 31% here, fewer than in 71% of compared French towns.
€27,640 a year is the median standard of living here
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 €27,640 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 67% of compared French towns.
In Vains, 48% of households are headed by a retired person, more 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
In Vains, just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker, beside 14% in the typical compared French town. Locally, just over one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional. As a reference point, 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).
Only 2.5% of residents are immigrants in Vains
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 87% of compared French towns. On average, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The share of foreign nationals stands at 1.4%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents make up 19% in Vains, less than in 94% 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
Compared with 43% in the typical compared French town, 47% of residents 15 and over are married here. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 13% in Vains, less than in 82% 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 nearly two in five adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Ranked by age, 15th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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).
No nearby town is as young as Vains
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vains | 48.5 | 28% | 23% | 2.5% |
| Avranches 10,143 · 3.1 mi | 49.6 | 30% | 4.3% | 6.3% |
| Sartilly-Baie-Bocage 2,778 · 5.4 mi | 49 | 29% | 8.9% | 1% |
| Ducey-Les Chéris 2,784 · 7.4 mi | 51.6 | 31% | 4.8% | 2% |
| Pontorson 4,280 · 9.1 mi | 55.7 | 37% | 13% | 5% |
| Saint-Pair-sur-Mer 4,507 · 11 mi | 60.5 | 41% | 40% | 2.2% |
| Saint-James 5,018 · 11.1 mi | 49.3 | 29% | 7.6% | 2.9% |
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 Vains
What is the population of Vains?
743 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (736).
How old are Vains’ residents?
The median age is 48.5, older than 77% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vains?
110, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vains?
INSEE counts 18 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.5% of residents, and 10 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vains?
€27,640 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.