Households in social housing: 0.6%, a lower share than 99% of compared French towns
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 7.7% of residents are 15 to 24 in Boust. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 1,157, in 490 households. Locally, 3.8% of households have no car. Just over a fifth of households are headed by a retired person, a lower share than in 92% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Moselle 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 Boust
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 7.2% single parents with children; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+1% since 2012: slower than 66% 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 change was +7%; from 2017 to 2023, −6%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Moselle town −1%.
Residents aged 65 and over: 14%, a lower share than 95% 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
■ Boust 40.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Boust’s residents are under 40.6, younger than in 76% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Boust: 34% of households are couples with children, above 91% 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 Moselle median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households make up 7.2%, against 10% in the typical compared French town. The share of couples with children in the typical compared French town is 25%. One-person households make up about one in four here (28%).
Boust sits below 70% of compared French towns for flats (19%)
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
The share of second homes is 0.8%, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in 20: 5% of homes stand empty.
At the median, €38,260 a year to live on
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 Boust is €38,260 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 98% of compared French towns.
14% of households are headed by a manager or professional, a share 74% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 manual worker trails 62% of compared French towns: 12%. Households headed by a manager or professional: 9.4% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Boust: 6.8% of residents are immigrants
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 52% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Moselle has 12%. Locally, 5% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
53% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 97% 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
In the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single; in Boust, 20%. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Boust ranks below 96% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 9.7%
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
The figure for graduates of higher education is 43% in Boust and 30% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,157 to 2,582 people), the 4th youngest
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.
Around Boust, 5 of 6 towns have a higher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boust | 40.6 | 14% | 0.8% | 6.8% |
| Hettange-Grande 7,772 · 2.6 mi | 40.7 | 17% | 2% | 10% |
| Cattenom 2,580 · 3.2 mi | 41.8 | 18% | 1.7% | 6.4% |
| Manom 3,137 · 4.4 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 2% | 6.8% |
| Thionville 42,658 · 5.3 mi | 41.4 | 20% | 2.1% | 14% |
| Yutz 17,391 · 5.6 mi | 41 | 19% | 1.3% | 13% |
| Terville 7,801 · 6.7 mi | 39.3 | 17% | 1.2% | 14% |
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 Boust
What is the population of Boust?
1,157 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (1,147).
How old are Boust’s residents?
The median age is 40.6, younger than 76% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Boust?
4, with occasional dwellings: 0.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Boust?
INSEE counts 78 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.8% of residents, and 58 foreign nationals (5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Boust?
€38,260 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.