Photo: Philippe Gisselbrecht/ Ville de Metz · CC BY-SA 4.0Half of Metz is under 36.4, younger than 93% of compared French towns
The figure for households headed by a retired person is 24% in Metz and 32% in the typical compared French town. The share of empty homes stands at 11%. Fewer couples with children than in 86% of compared French towns: 17%. Census day 2023: 122,572 residents and 62,040 households locally.
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 Metz
Immigrants
INSEE counts 23,900 immigrants in Metz (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 20% of residents, against 12% for the median compared commune in Moselle. 16% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
A young town
Half of Metz’s residents are under 36.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 15% are under 15 and 18% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
52% of Metz’s households are one person: higher than in 95% of compared French towns; 40% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Metz changed by +3% from 2012 to 2023, behind 59% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Moselle town −1%.
A higher share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 98% of compared French towns, at 17%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Metz 36.4. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%; Metz has 18%. Typically, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Metz sits above 95% of compared French towns for one-person households (52%)
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
The average household has 1.9 people. The usual figure: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Nothing unusual on single-parent households: 9.6%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of flats than 97% of compared French towns, at 85%
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 no car; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. Across the comparison, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. In Metz, just over a fifth of households rent social housing (HLM).
Standard of living at the median: €23,070 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 residents live in households above €23,070 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 81% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 26.4% of residents.
Metz ranks above 79% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 16%
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
On the census count, 13% of households are headed by a manual worker. The wider picture: 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).
Metz ranks above 92% of compared French towns on immigrants: 20%
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.
In Metz, 16% of residents are foreign nationals, beside 4.3% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 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.
Metz ranks above 97% of compared French towns on single residents: 39%
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 is 32%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
40% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 79% 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
Census figures put adults with no qualification at 20% in Metz. In the typical compared French town, graduates of higher education come to 30%.
Of 41 French towns its size (92,188 to 163,684 people), the 19th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Nancy (31.2), the oldest Paris 16e (43.7).
Every neighbor is older than Metz
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metz | 36.4 | 18% | 2.7% | 20% |
| Saint-Julien-lès-Metz 3,554 · 1.7 mi | 47.5 | 25% | 0.9% | 7.5% |
| Montigny-lès-Metz 21,718 · 1.9 mi | 44.1 | 23% | 1.1% | 12% |
| Longeville-lès-Metz 4,102 · 1.9 mi | 45.8 | 25% | 2.4% | 10% |
| Le Ban-Saint-Martin 4,684 · 2.1 mi | 39.8 | 17% | 0.6% | 9.3% |
| Woippy 14,967 · 3.1 mi | 37.5 | 16% | 0.4% | 21% |
| Moulins-lès-Metz 5,265 · 3.2 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 0.9% | 7.9% |
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 Metz
What is the population of Metz?
122,572 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (119,551).
How old are Metz’s residents?
The median age is 36.4, younger than 93% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Metz?
1,910, with occasional dwellings: 2.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Metz?
INSEE counts 23,910 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 20% of residents, and 19,200 foreign nationals (16%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Metz?
€23,070 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 26.4% 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.