Josselin is older than 90% of compared French towns: a median age of 52.7
Set against 2.1% in the typical compared French town, 8.4% of homes are second homes in Josselin. There were 1,190 households here at the 2023 Census, home to 2,584 residents. Here, 6.8% of households are single parents. Higher than in just over three quarters of compared French towns: 17% of households have no car.
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.
What stands out about the people of Josselin
An older town
Half of Josselin’s residents are under 52.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 14% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Josselin’s households are one person: higher than in 88% of compared French towns; 31% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 180 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Josselin grew +5% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 52% 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
The years 2012 to 2017 brought +2%; 2017 to 2023, +4%.
Josselin: 34% of residents are 65 or over, above 93% 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
■ Josselin 52.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: a tenth of the total. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Morbihan 51.6%, France 51.8%.
A lower share of couples with children than 86% of compared French towns, at 17%
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
On average, 1.9 people share a household. At 47%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 88% of compared French towns. Set beside that, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
In Josselin, 12% of homes stand empty, more than in 88% 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
By its share of flats (21%), Josselin is below 67% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. 15% of households arrived within the last two years, while 20% have stayed 30 years or more.
A typical living standard of €24,070 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €24,070 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 71% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 16.0% of residents.
In Josselin, 47% of households are headed by a retired person, more than in 95% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4%; Josselin has 5.1%. Households headed by a retired person: 32% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Put another way, about one in five: just over a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker.
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 82% 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.
Immigrants make up a share higher than in three quarters of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Morbihan has 2.3%. The wider picture: 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. For Josselin, the census puts immigrants at 11%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 39%, a lower share than 73% 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
Put another way, about one in four: a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. In the median compared French town 43% are married and 6.1% in a PACS; here it is 39% and 3.7%, and 16% are widowed.
Josselin: 27% of adults out of school have no qualification, above 85% 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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Josselin. The wider picture: 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 2,559 to 2,609 people, the 5th 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 Saint-Yzan-de-Soudiac (37.6), the youngest, and Eymet (61.2), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Josselin
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josselin | 52.7 | 34% | 8.4% | 11% |
| Ploërmel 10,163 · 7.4 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 4.1% | 3.9% |
| Val d'Oust 2,807 · 8 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 10% | 2.4% |
| Sérent 3,429 · 9.3 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 7.3% | 2.2% |
| Plumelec 2,754 · 9.4 mi | 45.7 | 21% | 7.7% | 1.3% |
| Saint-Jean-Brévelay 2,869 · 11.5 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 2.8% | 3.3% |
| Bignan 2,757 · 12 mi | 48 | 26% | 2% | 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 Josselin
What is the population of Josselin?
2,584 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (2,453).
How old are Josselin’s residents?
The median age is 52.7, older than 90% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Josselin?
120, with occasional dwellings: 8.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Josselin?
INSEE counts 290 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 260 foreign nationals (10%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Josselin?
€24,070 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% 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 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.