14% of households are couples with children, below 93% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats; in Laval, 61%. The 2023 Census counted 49,400 residents in 26,130 households. Here, 22% of households have no car. Few places have as many residents aged 15 to 24: 16% here, more than in 97% of compared French towns.
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 Laval
Many people living alone
54% of Laval’s households are one person: higher than in 97% of compared French towns; 40% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −2% since 2012, behind 80% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Mayenne town ±0%.
A median age of 40.4: Laval is younger 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
■ Laval 40.4. The median compared French town: 44.
In Laval, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
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%.
More one-person households than 97% of compared French towns: 54%
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
On average, 1.8 people share a household. To put it in context, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few single-parent households: 8.8% here, fewer than in 69% of compared French towns.
Households in social housing make up 23% in Laval, more than in 84% 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 typical compared French town, 2.1% of homes are second homes; in Laval, 3.2%. As a reference point, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Locally, nearly one in ten homes stand empty.
A median standard of living of €24,120 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.
Half of Laval’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,120 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 70% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 20.3% of residents.
Fewer households headed by a retired person than 64% of compared French towns: 30%
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
Against a figure of 9.4% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional in Laval comes in at 11%. What’s more, households headed by a manual worker are more common here than in 59% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 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).
10% of residents are foreign nationals, more than in 83% 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.
Set against 6.5% in the typical compared French town, one in ten residents are immigrants in Laval. As a yardstick, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share higher than in 72% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Mayenne has 3.1%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 32%, a lower share than 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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, just over a third of residents 15 and over are single in Laval. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of adults with no qualification than 71% of compared French towns, at 23%
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
34% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
41 French towns of 45,912 to 53,354 people: this is the 17th 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.
Talence is the youngest (30.5); Les Sables-d'Olonne the oldest (59.6).
Laval is younger than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laval | 40.4 | 23% | 3.2% | 10% |
| Changé 6,502 · 2.3 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 1.5% | 3.1% |
| Saint-Berthevin 7,479 · 2.7 mi | 48.9 | 28% | 1.2% | 5.4% |
| L'Huisserie 4,672 · 3.1 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 1.3% | 3.9% |
| Bonchamp-lès-Laval 6,302 · 3.2 mi | 48.1 | 25% | 0.8% | 3.1% |
| Louverné 4,344 · 4.4 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 0.4% | 2.7% |
| Argentré 2,906 · 6.1 mi | 42.3 | 18% | 0.9% | 1.7% |
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 Laval
What is the population of Laval?
49,400 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (50,658).
How old are Laval’s residents?
The median age is 40.4, younger than 77% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Laval?
940, with occasional dwellings: 3.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Laval?
INSEE counts 5,170 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 10% of residents, and 5,100 foreign nationals (10%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Laval?
€24,120 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 20.3% 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.