Lesse: 41% of households are couples with children, above 99% of compared French towns
In Lesse, 53% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, flats are scarce here: 3.1%, fewer than in 98% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 206 residents and 82 households locally. Households without a car account for 7.1%.
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 Lesse
A town of families
41% of households are couples with children and 0% single parents with children; 17% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 13 homes empty (14%): 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 +5% change since 2012: faster than 51% 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
Older than 60% of compared French towns: half of Lesse is over 45.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lesse 45.5. The median compared French town: 44.
At 11%, residents aged 15 to 24 sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town. Across Lesse, just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 24% in Lesse, less than in 97% 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
Each household has 2.5 people on average. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Lesse: 14% of homes stand empty, above 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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, empty homes come to 6.7%. Newcomers of less than two years account for 4.8% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 26%.
A median standard of living of €25,850 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.
Half of Lesse’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,850 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 51% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 18% in Lesse, more than in 84% 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 manual worker are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Against that, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.4% of residents are immigrants, below 97% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Lesse comes in at 0.9%. Elsewhere, 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.
52% of residents 15 and over are married, a share 96% of compared French towns don’t reach
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, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single; in Lesse, 22%. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Lesse sits below 71% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (24%)
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
By its share of adults with no qualification (21%), Lesse is above 58% of compared French towns. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 21st oldest of 41 French towns of 206 to 2,582 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 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Lesse sits below 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lesse | 45.5 | 21% | 0% | 1.4% |
| Morhange 3,308 · 6.6 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 1.3% | 15% |
| Faulquemont 5,109 · 7.2 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 0.8% | 11% |
| Créhange 3,691 · 7.6 mi | 48.3 | 25% | 0.8% | 6.2% |
| Folschviller 3,916 · 11.2 mi | 43 | 23% | 1.3% | 18% |
| Courcelles-Chaussy 3,006 · 11.3 mi | 43.2 | 21% | 1.1% | 4.2% |
| Longeville-lès-Saint-Avold 3,572 · 12.2 mi | 48.4 | 24% | 1.9% | 4.2% |
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 Lesse
What is the population of Lesse?
206 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (196).
How old are Lesse’s residents?
The median age is 45.5, older than 60% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lesse?
0, with occasional dwellings: 0% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lesse?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.4% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lesse?
€25,850 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.