Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 95% of compared French towns: 3.6%
Flats make up 55%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. In 2023, the Census found 13,266 residents in Freyming-Merlebach, living in 5,850 households. On the census count, 0.6% of homes are second homes. Households without a car are more common here than in 80% 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 Freyming-Merlebach
Immigrants
INSEE counts 2,200 immigrants in Freyming-Merlebach (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 17% of residents, against 12% for the median compared commune in Moselle. 13% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Social housing
31% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 24% rent privately and 39% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 810 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.
A change of +1% since 2012 leaves Freyming-Merlebach behind 65% 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 change was −2% from 2012 to 2017 and +3% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Moselle town −1%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 24% in Freyming-Merlebach, more than in 60% 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
■ Freyming-Merlebach 43.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Freyming-Merlebach’s residents are under 43.4, younger than in 54% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 11% here.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%.
In Freyming-Merlebach, 40% of households are one person living alone, more than in 68% 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
11% of households are single parents, against 10% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.2 people.
In Freyming-Merlebach, 31% of households rent social housing (HLM), more than in 93% 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
In the typical compared French town, 6.7% of homes stand empty; in Freyming-Merlebach, 12%. Car-free households: one in five, where the median compared French town has 11%.
The median resident lives on €20,550 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 Freyming-Merlebach is €20,550 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 95% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 28.0% of the population.
Freyming-Merlebach: 23% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 92% 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
Households headed by a retired person: 35% here and 32% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Freyming-Merlebach ranks above 88% of compared French towns on immigrants: 17%
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.
The median compared commune in Moselle has 12%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 88% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. In Freyming-Merlebach, 13% 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.
In Freyming-Merlebach, 27% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 60% 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 tops just over three fifths of compared French towns: 44%. For comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 16% in Freyming-Merlebach, less than in 96% 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
The share of adults with no qualification is 35%, against 19% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 12,937 to 13,606 people, the 20th 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.
Val-de-Reuil is the youngest (32.3); Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez the oldest (61.8).
Of the 6 towns nearest Freyming-Merlebach, 5 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freyming-Merlebach | 43.4 | 24% | 0.6% | 17% |
| Cocheren 3,358 · 1.7 mi | 48 | 27% | 0.7% | 8.1% |
| Hombourg-Haut 5,976 · 1.9 mi | 47.1 | 27% | 1% | 15% |
| Morsbach 2,635 · 3.2 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 0.6% | 13% |
| L'Hôpital 5,183 · 3.4 mi | 44 | 22% | 0.8% | 9.4% |
| Farébersviller 5,224 · 3.7 mi | 39.8 | 19% | 0.7% | 28% |
| Carling 3,291 · 4.2 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 0.4% | 10% |
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 Freyming-Merlebach
What is the population of Freyming-Merlebach?
13,266 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (13,122).
How old are Freyming-Merlebach’s residents?
The median age is 43.4, younger than 54% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Freyming-Merlebach?
42, with occasional dwellings: 0.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Freyming-Merlebach?
INSEE counts 2,190 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 17% of residents, and 1,720 foreign nationals (13%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Freyming-Merlebach?
€20,550 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 28.0% 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.