1.1% of households rent social housing (HLM), fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
Households headed by a retired person: 44% here and 32% in the typical compared French town. Lessy had 794 residents in 370 households at the 2023 Census. 1.3% of households are single parents, or about one in 77. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 96% 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 Lessy
Many graduates
59% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 27% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
An older town
Half of Lessy’s residents are under 52 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 6.8% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Lessy changed by +2% from 2012 to 2023, behind 61% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and −1% for the median Moselle town, the change came in two steps: −4% from 2012 to 2017, then +7% to 2023.
Lessy is older than 89% of compared French towns: a median age of 52
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lessy 52. The median compared French town: 44.
In Lessy, 32% of residents are 65 or over, beside 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 29% in Lessy, less than in 80% 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 2.2 people on average. Measured more widely, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, couples with children are common here: 26%, more than in 55% of compared French towns.
Fewer households without a car than 90% of compared French towns: 4.8%
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
29% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 5.6% moved in within the last two years. Across the comparison, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. Lessy has fewer flats than just over three quarters of compared French towns, at 16%. Empty homes make up 6.8%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €36,130 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.
The median standard of living in Lessy is €36,130 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 96% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 2.7% in Lessy, less than in 99% 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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, just over a fifth of households are headed by a manager or professional in Lessy. As a reference point, 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).
In Lessy, 3% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 82% 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.
The share of foreign nationals trails 88% of compared French towns: 1.4%. The wider picture: 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.
Above 97% of compared French towns: 52% of residents 15 and over are married
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
25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 20% in Lessy. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
59% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 97% 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
5% of adults out of school have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 9th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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.
Lessy is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lessy | 52 | 32% | 2.1% | 3% |
| Scy-Chazelles 2,753 · 1.2 mi | 46.9 | 24% | 1.8% | 8.9% |
| Moulins-lès-Metz 5,265 · 2 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 0.9% | 7.9% |
| Le Ban-Saint-Martin 4,684 · 2.4 mi | 39.8 | 17% | 0.6% | 9.3% |
| Longeville-lès-Metz 4,102 · 2.4 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 2.4% | 10% |
| Ars-sur-Moselle 4,616 · 3 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 0.6% | 8.6% |
| Montigny-lès-Metz 21,718 · 3.1 mi | 44.1 | 23% | 1.1% | 12% |
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 Lessy
What is the population of Lessy?
794 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (777).
How old are Lessy’s residents?
The median age is 52, older than 89% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lessy?
8, with occasional dwellings: 2.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lessy?
INSEE counts 24 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3% of residents, and 11 foreign nationals (1.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lessy?
€36,130 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.