Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 94% of compared French towns: 3.7%
30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, against 18% in Plouay. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 82% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 5,755 people lived locally, in 2,680 households. Put another way, about one in 33: 3% of households rent social housing (HLM).
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.
Since 2012, Plouay has grown +8%, faster than 63% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Morbihan town +7%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +6%; from 2017 to 2023, +1%.
9% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 81% 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
■ Plouay 46.5. The median compared French town: 44.
With a median age of 46.5, Plouay is older than 66% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. On the census count, a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Morbihan 51.6%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 38%, a higher share than 60% 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 Morbihan median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.1 people. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town. At 26%, the share of couples with children is higher than in 53% of compared French towns.
In Plouay, 3.4% of homes are second homes, more than in 65% 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
Without a car: one household in 11, against 11% in the median compared French town. The comparison figure for second homes is 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 10% moved in during the last two years and 24% have stayed three decades or more. Compared with other places, households without a car are scarce here: 9.3%, fewer than in 58% of compared French towns.
A median of €25,640 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 median standard of living in Plouay is €25,640 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 53% of compared French towns. 10.0% of residents have a standard of living below 60% of France’s median.
Plouay sits above 79% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (19%)
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
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in Plouay comes in at 37%. For households headed by a manual worker, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 2.5%, a lower share than 87% 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.
Foreign nationals make up 2.2%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 23%, a lower share than 69% 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 stands at 44%. By way of comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 69% of compared French towns: 25%
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
Across Plouay, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 17th oldest of 41 French towns of 5,708 to 5,802 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.6 in Erdre-en-Anjou to 56.7 in Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët.
Plouay sits below 2 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plouay | 46.5 | 25% | 3.4% | 2.5% |
| Cléguer 3,460 · 4.3 mi | 44.7 | 22% | 1.6% | 1.6% |
| Inzinzac-Lochrist 6,691 · 6.5 mi | 45.4 | 22% | 2.4% | 2.1% |
| Pont-Scorff 4,037 · 6.8 mi | 43.2 | 19% | 1.9% | 1.6% |
| Caudan 7,206 · 7.6 mi | 48.6 | 26% | 1.4% | 3% |
| Rédené 3,043 · 7.9 mi | 42.8 | 19% | 2.9% | 3.1% |
| Hennebont 15,910 · 8.2 mi | 47.9 | 25% | 1.9% | 3.7% |
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 Plouay
What is the population of Plouay?
5,755 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% more than in 2012 (5,336).
How old are Plouay’s residents?
The median age is 46.5, older than 66% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Plouay?
99, with occasional dwellings: 3.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Plouay?
INSEE counts 140 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.5% of residents, and 130 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Plouay?
€25,640 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 10.0% 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 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.