23% of homes are second homes, more than in 94% of compared French towns
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Villepail counted 192 residents and 93 households at the 2023 Census. Census figures put households headed by a retired person at 44% locally. 2.2% of households rent social housing (HLM), against 12% in the typical compared French town.
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 Villepail
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 36 second homes and occasional dwellings in Villepail, 23% of its 160 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 ↓
Empty homes
The census found 27 homes empty (17%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Villepail’s residents are under 50.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 24% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5.3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Empty homes make up 17% in Villepail, more than in 98% 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
One household in 11 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. Measured more widely, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. The share of households without a car stands at 8.7%. Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Villepail changed by +1% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 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
In two steps, −7% to 2017 and +8% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% in Mayenne.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 6.9%, a lower share than 98% 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
■ Villepail 50.9. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 50.9, Villepail is older than 86% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 78 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Mayenne 52.1%, France 51.8%.
Below 64% of compared French towns: 22% of households are couples with children
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
There are 2 people in the average household. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. Villepail has more one-person households than 65% of compared French towns, at 39%.
Median standard of living: €21,900 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 residents live in households above €21,900 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 89% of compared French towns.
Villepail ranks below 80% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 5.6%
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 manual worker: 17% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten 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).
Villepail: 6.4% of residents are foreign nationals, above 66% 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 16: 6.4% of residents are immigrants. That is lower than in 51% 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.
In Villepail, 41% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 61% 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
Here, 26% of residents 15 and over are single. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
29% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 89% 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 a fifth of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. The benchmark for adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town: 19%.
41 French towns of 192 to 2,582 people: this is the 11th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Of the 6 towns nearest Villepail, 5 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villepail | 50.9 | 24% | 23% | 6.4% |
| Villaines-la-Juhel 2,671 · 4.2 mi | 57.5 | 38% | 3.9% | 3.3% |
| Rives d'Andaine 2,844 · 12 mi | 54.6 | 31% | 10% | 3.4% |
| Bagnoles de l'Orne Normandie 2,699 · 12.7 mi | 61.9 | 45% | 54% | 7.1% |
| La Ferté Macé 5,071 · 13.6 mi | 53.8 | 32% | 3.2% | 6.1% |
| Saint-Germain-du-Corbéis 3,636 · 15.4 mi | 54 | 35% | 1.4% | 5% |
| Ambrières-les-Vallées 2,619 · 16.6 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 Villepail
What is the population of Villepail?
192 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (191).
How old are Villepail’s residents?
The median age is 50.9, older than 86% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Villepail?
36, with occasional dwellings: 23% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Villepail?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.4% of residents, and 12 foreign nationals (6.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Villepail?
€21,900 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.