Older than 86% of compared French towns: half of Valognes is over 51
Where 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Valognes has 17%. Households in social housing are more common here than in 87% of compared French towns. The town had 6,969 residents in 3,470 households at the 2023 Census. Just over two in five households are headed by a retired person.
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 Valognes
An older town
Half of Valognes’ residents are under 51 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of +1% since 2012 leaves Valognes behind 68% 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
The years 2012 to 2017 brought −2%; 2017 to 2023, +2%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Manche town ±0%.
In Valognes, 29% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 84% 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
■ Valognes 51. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 10%. Measured more widely, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 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.
Valognes: 46% of households are one person living alone, above 86% 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
The typical household size is 1.9 people. For one-person households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 35%. Across Valognes, 9% of households are single parents.
Households without a car make up 15% in Valognes, more than in 70% 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
Of all households, 12% moved in during the last two years and 16% have stayed three decades or more. Compared with other places, flats are common here: 33%, more than in 55% of compared French towns. Households without a car make up 11% in the typical compared French town. Nothing unusual on empty homes: 7.3%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €25,280 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 Valognes is €25,280 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 57% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 13.0% of residents.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 60% of compared French towns: 8%
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
Fewer households headed by a manual worker than in 53% of compared French towns: 14%. For comparison, 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).
Immigrants: 1.6%, a lower share than 95% 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.
Foreign nationals: 1.1%, below 92% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for immigrants is 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.
Below 75% of compared French towns: 39% of residents 15 and over are married
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
28% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
Adults with no qualification make up 22% in Valognes, more than in 67% 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
27% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 30%. On average, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 6,889 to 7,044 people, the 6th 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 Bailly-Romainvilliers (34.9), the youngest, and Binic-Étables-sur-Mer (56.4), the oldest.
2 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Valognes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valognes | 51 | 29% | 2.4% | 1.6% |
| Bricquebec-en-Cotentin 5,893 · 8.2 mi | 47 | 25% | 4.6% | 1.3% |
| Picauville 3,228 · 9.7 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 7.7% | 2.8% |
| Sainte-Mère-Église 2,896 · 9.9 mi | 53.1 | 31% | 18% | 1.6% |
| Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 78,258 · 11.4 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 3.6% | 4.9% |
| Les Pieux 3,249 · 15.4 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 15% | 2.7% |
| La Haye 4,029 · 15.4 mi | 54.9 | 34% | 21% | 2.5% |
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 Valognes
What is the population of Valognes?
6,969 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (6,932).
How old are Valognes’ residents?
The median age is 51, older than 86% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Valognes?
92, with occasional dwellings: 2.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Valognes?
INSEE counts 110 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.6% of residents, and 77 foreign nationals (1.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Valognes?
€25,280 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 13.0% 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.