Photo: Remi Jouan · CC BY-SA 3.0Half of Malestroit is over 59.1, older than 98% of compared French towns
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 15% of households are couples with children in Malestroit. Census day 2023: 2,558 residents and 1,320 households here. On the census count, 5.3% of households rent social housing (HLM). Compared with other places, empty homes are common here: 9.9%, more than in 79% of compared French towns.
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 Malestroit
An older town
Half of Malestroit’s residents are under 59.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 39% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 16% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Malestroit’s households are one person: higher than in 88% of compared French towns; 32% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+2% since 2012: slower than 60% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +7% in Morbihan.
In Malestroit, 39% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 97% 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
■ Malestroit 59.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 7.9%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Morbihan 51.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A lower share of single-parent households than 99% of compared French towns, at 4.2%
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
Average household size: 1.8 people. At 47%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 88% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
4.8% of homes are second homes, more than in 76% 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
15% of households have no car, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Locally, a quarter of homes are flats.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €25,890 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.
Living standards centre on €25,890 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 51% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 9.0% of residents.
Malestroit: 47% of households are headed by a retired person, above 94% 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
The share of households headed by a manager or professional trails 66% of compared French towns: 7.3%. Put another way, about one in seven: 15% of households are headed by a manual worker. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a retired person come to 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Malestroit sits below 88% of compared French towns for immigrants (2.3%)
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 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1.9% of residents are foreign nationals in Malestroit. As a yardstick, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of single residents than 68% of compared French towns, at 23%
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
45% of residents 15 and over are married, against 43% in the typical compared French town. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Adults with no qualification make up 23% in Malestroit, more than in 70% 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
Graduates of higher education: 28% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, adults with no qualification come to 19%.
41 French towns of 2,524 to 2,589 people: this is the 2nd 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 Eymet (61.2), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Malestroit
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malestroit | 59.1 | 39% | 4.8% | 2.3% |
| Val d'Oust 2,807 · 4.7 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 10% | 2.4% |
| Sérent 3,429 · 5.6 mi | 43.2 | 22% | 7.3% | 2.2% |
| Ploërmel 10,163 · 8.1 mi | 48.1 | 26% | 4.1% | 3.9% |
| Questembert 8,133 · 10.3 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 5.1% | 2.3% |
| Elven 6,651 · 10.9 mi | 41.4 | 18% | 2.4% | 2.6% |
| Plumelec 2,754 · 11.6 mi | 45.7 | 21% | 7.7% | 1.3% |
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 Malestroit
What is the population of Malestroit?
2,558 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (2,497).
How old are Malestroit’s residents?
The median age is 59.1, older than 98% of compared French towns. 13% are under 18 and 39% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Malestroit?
74, with occasional dwellings: 4.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Malestroit?
INSEE counts 60 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.3% of residents, and 48 foreign nationals (1.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Malestroit?
€25,890 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 9.0% 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.