44% of households are couples with children, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
Where 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, Ley has 1.9%. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 6.4%. 22% of households are headed by a manual worker, a higher share than in 91% of compared French towns. This Moselle town counted 109 residents and 46 households at the 2023 Census.
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 Ley
A town of families
44% of households are couples with children and 11% single parents with children; 17% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: +4% since 2012, behind 54% 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
In two steps, −8% to 2017 and +12% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −1% in Moselle.
A median age of 47.8: Ley is older than 73% 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
■ Ley 47.8. The median compared French town: 44.
26% of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%).
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Ley, 22% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 98% 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
Households average 2.4 people. At 11%, the share of single-parent households is higher than in 66% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Second homes make up 5.6% in Ley, more than in 79% 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
9.3% of homes stand empty; in the typical compared French town the figure is 6.7%. On average, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. The share of households without a car stands at 8.7%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €29,660 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 midpoint of living standards here is €29,660 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 83% of compared French towns.
Only 11% of households are headed by a retired person in Ley
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 manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Typically, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
0% of residents in Ley 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.
The median compared commune in Moselle has 12%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
16% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 99% 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
By its share of married residents (56%), Ley is above 99% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Fewer adults with no qualification than 94% of compared French towns: 11%
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
29% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 52% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification.
15th highest median age among 41 French towns of 109 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
A younger town than 1 of the 6 around it: Ley
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ley | 47.8 | 26% | 5.6% | 0% |
| Dieuze 2,770 · 5.7 mi | 51.9 | 30% | 1.1% | 3.5% |
| Lunéville 18,262 · 12.6 mi | 43.8 | 24% | 1.2% | 6.2% |
| Morhange 3,308 · 12.9 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 1.3% | 15% |
| Dombasle-sur-Meurthe 9,424 · 16.1 mi | 44.3 | 22% | 0.5% | 3.5% |
| Blainville-sur-l'Eau 3,893 · 17 mi | 42.9 | 18% | 0.4% | 2.2% |
| Varangéville 3,536 · 17 mi | 45.5 | 23% | 0.6% | 3.6% |
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 Ley
What is the population of Ley?
109 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (105).
How old are Ley’s residents?
The median age is 47.8, older than 73% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ley?
3, with occasional dwellings: 5.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ley?
INSEE counts 0 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ley?
€29,660 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.