Households headed by a manager or professional: 3.6%, a lower share than 95% of compared French towns
Residents aged 65 and over make up 31%, against 22% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census Ernée was home to 5,499 people in 2,610 households. Single-parent households account for 5.9%. This Mayenne town has fewer flats than 78% of compared French towns, at 15%.
Throughout this page, the Mayenne 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 Ernée
Fewer residents than in 2012
Ernée had 5,812 residents at the 2012 census and 5,499 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 89% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 350 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 89% of compared French towns: Ernée changed by −5% since 2012
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 −1% to 2017, then −4% to 2023.
Older than 84% of compared French towns: half of Ernée is over 50.2
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ernée 50.2. The median compared French town: 44.
10% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Mayenne 52.1%, France 51.8%.
Fewer couples with children than 74% of compared French towns: 20%
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 Mayenne median and the France median
Living alone · share
One-person households make up 41%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for couples with children is 25% in the typical compared French town. On average, 2 people share a household.
In Ernée, 12% of homes stand empty, more than in 86% 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
In the median compared French town, 11% of households have no car; here, one in seven. Ernée has fewer households in social housing than 61% of compared French towns, at 9.9%. The benchmark for empty homes in the typical compared French town: 6.7%. Across Ernée, 2.6% of homes are second homes.
A median of €24,330 a year per consumption unit
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.
Half of residents live in households above €24,330 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 68% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 10.0%.
More households headed by a retired person than 90% of compared French towns: 43%
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
Just over a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker; in the typical compared French town the figure is 14%. Elsewhere, nearly a third 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).
Immigrants: 2.3%, a lower share than 88% 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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 2% of residents are foreign nationals here. The usual figure: 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Mayenne has 3.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 88% 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.
Below 84% of compared French towns: 21% of residents 15 and over are single
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 account for 44%. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Adults with no qualification make up 33% in Ernée, more than in 96% 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
By its share of graduates of higher education (18%), Ernée is below 91% of compared French towns. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
6th highest median age among 41 French towns of 5,441 to 5,559
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 Crégy-lès-Meaux (35.3), the youngest, and Penmarch (60.8), the oldest.
Ernée is younger than 2 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ernée | 50.2 | 31% | 2.6% | 2.3% |
| Fougères 20,307 · 12.7 mi | 46.6 | 27% | 2% | 6.3% |
| Lécousse 3,530 · 13.9 mi | 50.9 | 28% | 1.1% | 1.4% |
| Mayenne 12,883 · 14.5 mi | 47 | 28% | 1.8% | 5.3% |
| Changé 6,502 · 15.2 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 1.5% | 3.1% |
| Louvigné-du-Désert 3,346 · 15.6 mi | 52.7 | 33% | 3.9% | 3.6% |
| Ambrières-les-Vallées 2,619 · 15.8 mi | 49.6 | 30% | 7.5% | 3.1% |
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 Ernée
What is the population of Ernée?
5,499 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (5,812).
How old are Ernée’s residents?
The median age is 50.2, older than 84% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ernée?
80, with occasional dwellings: 2.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ernée?
INSEE counts 130 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.3% of residents, and 110 foreign nationals (2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ernée?
€24,330 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 10.0% 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.