Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 90% of compared French towns: 15%
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Rettel counted 869 residents and 380 households at the 2023 Census. Roughly three in ten: 28% of households are one person living alone. Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in Rettel comes in at 4.4%.
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 Rettel
Growing fast
Rettel had 727 residents at the 2012 census and 869 in 2023, up 20%: faster growth than in 90% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Rettel grew +20% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 90% 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 median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Moselle town −1%.
A median age of 39.7: Rettel is younger than 81% 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
■ Rettel 39.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 8.4% of residents are 15 to 24 in Rettel.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Moselle 51.8%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children make up 30% in Rettel, more than in 75% 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
There are 2.3 people in the average household. Elsewhere, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. 9.6% of households are single parents, fewer than in 57% of compared French towns.
Below 61% of compared French towns: 24% of homes are flats
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
8.2% of households arrived within the last two years, while 18% have stayed 30 years or more. Second homes are more common here than in 58% of compared French towns. At 7.4%, empty homes sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
€32,010 a year is the median standard of living here
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 €32,010 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 91% of compared French towns.
In Rettel, 23% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 88% 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 manager or professional make up 5.5%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Rettel has more households headed by a manual worker than 93% of compared French towns, at 23%. By way of comparison, 32% 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).
More immigrants than 71% of compared French towns: 10%
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 figure for foreign nationals is 7.3% in Rettel and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 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.
21% of residents 15 and over are single, below 86% 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
Married residents make up 46%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single.
Below 85% of compared French towns: 13% of adults out of school have no qualification
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 figure for graduates of higher education is 32% in Rettel and 30% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 869 to 2,582 people, the 2nd 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Rettel is younger 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rettel | 39.7 | 15% | 2.7% | 10% |
| Cattenom 2,580 · 4.6 mi | 41.8 | 18% | 1.7% | 6.4% |
| Manom 3,137 · 8.3 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 2% | 6.8% |
| Hettange-Grande 7,772 · 8.4 mi | 40.7 | 17% | 2% | 10% |
| Yutz 17,391 · 8.6 mi | 41 | 19% | 1.3% | 13% |
| Thionville 42,658 · 9.8 mi | 41.4 | 20% | 2.1% | 14% |
| Bertrange 2,941 · 10.9 mi | 43.7 | 20% | 0.7% | 4.7% |
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 Rettel
What is the population of Rettel?
869 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% more than in 2012 (727).
How old are Rettel’s residents?
The median age is 39.7, younger than 81% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Rettel?
11, with occasional dwellings: 2.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Rettel?
INSEE counts 88 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 10% of residents, and 64 foreign nationals (7.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Rettel?
€32,010 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.