Flats: 3.3%, a lower share than 98% of compared French towns
By its share of households in social housing (2%), Gourhel is below 97% of compared French towns. On households headed by a retired person, Gourhel sits higher than 86% of compared French towns: 41%. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 711, in 310 households. Locally, 28% of households are one person living alone.
Throughout this page, the Morbihan 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.
+14% since 2012, a pace 80% of compared French towns didn’t match
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
The median Morbihan town changed +7% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +13% and the next six +1%.
Gourhel is older than 62% of compared French towns: a median age of 45.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gourhel 45.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: just over a fifth of the total. Nothing unusual on residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Morbihan 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Below 93% of compared French towns: 6.6% of households are single parents
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 Morbihan median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2.3 people in the average household. Higher than in 64% of compared French towns: 28% of households are couples with children. The usual figure: 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Below 94% of compared French towns: 3.9% of households have no car
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
Some 9.2% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 21% who have been there 30 years or more. Elsewhere, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. Locally, 0.9% of homes are second homes.
Standard of living at the median: €26,090 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 Gourhel’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €26,090 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 51% of compared French towns.
Only 8.2% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Gourhel
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
15% of households are headed by a manual worker. Set beside that, 9.4% of 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).
Below 99% of compared French towns: 0.6% of residents are foreign nationals
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.
In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%; Gourhel has 2.5%. The share of foreign nationals in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. That is lower than in 86% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Morbihan has 2.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Gourhel sits above 96% of compared French towns for married residents (52%)
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
Single residents: 21%, below 84% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
17% of adults out of school have no qualification, below 61% 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 Gourhel, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. As a yardstick, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 711 to 2,582 people: this is the 20th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Older than Gourhel: 5 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gourhel | 45.8 | 21% | 0.9% | 2.5% |
| Ploërmel 10,163 · 1.8 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 4.1% | 3.9% |
| Val d'Oust 2,807 · 6 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 10% | 2.4% |
| Malestroit 2,558 · 8.8 mi | 59.1 | 39% | 4.8% | 2.3% |
| Josselin 2,584 · 8.9 mi | 52.7 | 34% | 8.4% | 11% |
| Sérent 3,429 · 10.2 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 7.3% | 2.2% |
| Mauron 3,163 · 10.3 mi | 54.7 | 35% | 5.6% | 3% |
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 Gourhel
What is the population of Gourhel?
711 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 14% more than in 2012 (623).
How old are Gourhel’s residents?
The median age is 45.8, older than 62% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gourhel?
3, with occasional dwellings: 0.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gourhel?
INSEE counts 18 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.5% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gourhel?
€26,090 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 9, 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.