3.8% of residents are 15 to 24, below 99% of compared French towns
Just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town, against 5.2% in Woël. Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 83% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Woël was home to 209 people in 96 households. Second homes account for 7.9%.
Throughout this page, the Meuse 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 Woël
Empty homes
The census found 17 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Woël grew +12% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 76% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +8%, and from 2017 to 2023 +5%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Meuse town −8%.
Half of Woël is under 40.9, younger than 74% 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
■ Woël 40.9. The median compared French town: 44.
20% of residents are 65 or over; in the typical compared French town the figure is 22%.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Meuse 52.5%, France 51.8%.
32% of households are one person living alone, below 68% 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 Meuse median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2.2 people. As a reference point, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many single-parent households: 11% here, more than in 58% of compared French towns. A quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, against 26% in Woël.
Above 94% of compared French towns: 14% of homes stand empty
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, the share of flats is 30%; Woël has 9.8%. On top of that, households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
A median of €27,020 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €27,020 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 61% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person make up 21% in Woël, less than in 93% of compared French towns
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
16% of households are headed by a manual worker (typical compared French town: 14%). By way of comparison, 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).
0.5% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 99% 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.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
20% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 89% 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
The share of married residents trails 88% of compared French towns: 36%. Measured more widely, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
21% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 81% 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
In the typical compared French town, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification; in Woël, 16%. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 4th youngest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Woël 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woël | 40.9 | 20% | 7.9% | 0.5% |
| Jarny 8,050 · 10.6 mi | 45.5 | 25% | 0.7% | 5% |
| Étain 3,375 · 12.9 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 1.2% | 3.5% |
| Saint-Mihiel 3,772 · 13.3 mi | 48.8 | 27% | 3.2% | 10% |
| Pagny-sur-Moselle 3,919 · 13.7 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 1.2% | 2.7% |
| Ars-sur-Moselle 4,616 · 15.7 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 0.6% | 8.6% |
| Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes 4,519 · 16.3 mi | 41.3 | 19% | 1.6% | 4.6% |
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 Woël
What is the population of Woël?
209 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 12% more than in 2012 (186).
How old are Woël’s residents?
The median age is 40.9, younger than 74% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Woël?
10, with occasional dwellings: 7.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Woël?
INSEE counts 1 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.5% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Woël?
€27,020 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.