Households headed by a retired person: 19%, a lower share than 96% of compared French towns
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 165 residents in Gastines, living in 79 households. Census figures put households without a car at 3.8% in the town. The share of one-person households tops just over four fifths of compared French towns: 44%.
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.
A +1% change since 2012: slower than 67% 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
Gastines ranks below 72% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 19%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gastines 44.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 9.1% of residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. With a median age of 44.8, Gastines is older than 55% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Mayenne 52.1%, France 51.8%.
25% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 51% 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 Mayenne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The average household has 2.1 people.
3.8% of households rent social housing (HLM), below 91% 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
Where 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town, Gastines has 4.5%. More empty homes than in 50% of compared French towns: 6.7%. Elsewhere, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
A median of €23,360 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.
At €23,360 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
38% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Households headed by a manager or professional: 6.2% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. On average, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Gastines, 4.8% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 65% 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.
Put another way, about one in 21: 4.8% of residents are foreign nationals. Across the comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
46% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 69% 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
26% of residents 15 and over are single, or about one in four. The benchmark for married residents in the typical compared French town: 43%.
Gastines ranks below 92% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 18%
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 make up 21%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
41 French towns of 165 to 2,582 people: this is the 18th youngest
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.
3 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Gastines
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gastines | 44.8 | 19% | 4.5% | 4.8% |
| La Guerche-de-Bretagne 4,554 · 5.6 mi | 49.5 | 31% | 1.4% | 11% |
| Argentré-du-Plessis 4,633 · 7.5 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 1.9% | 2% |
| Étrelles 2,703 · 8.9 mi | 40.4 | 18% | 0.7% | 1.8% |
| Cossé-le-Vivien 3,174 · 9.1 mi | 45.8 | 26% | 2% | 2.2% |
| Bais 2,539 · 9.6 mi | 38.2 | 19% | 2% | 2% |
| Craon 4,431 · 10.1 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 2.5% | 2.6% |
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 Gastines
What is the population of Gastines?
165 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (164).
How old are Gastines’ residents?
The median age is 44.8, older than 55% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gastines?
4, with occasional dwellings: 4.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gastines?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.8% of residents, and 8 foreign nationals (4.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gastines?
€23,360 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.