A median age of 66.1: Mhère is older than 99% of compared French towns
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 8.3% of households are couples with children here. 3.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional, a lower share than in 94% of compared French towns. There were 140 households in Mhère at the 2023 Census, home to 226 residents. Locally, nearly one in ten homes stand empty.
Throughout this page, the Nièvre 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 Mhère
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 170 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mhère, 50% of its 340 homes: higher than in 97% of compared French towns. 99% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Mhère’s residents are under 66.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 54% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 15% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
51% of Mhère’s households are one person: higher than in 95% of compared French towns; 39% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Mhère had 245 residents at the 2012 census and 226 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 97% of compared French towns: 50% of homes are second homes
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
With households without a car at 7.5%, Mhère is behind 69% of compared French towns on that count. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Long tenure is the mark of 38% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 0.7% (under two years).
−8% since 2012: slower than 94% 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, −6% to 2017 and −2% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −8% in Nièvre.
Mhère ranks above 99% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 54%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mhère 66.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 3.1% of residents are 15 to 24 in Mhère. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Nièvre 53.7%, France 51.8%.
In Mhère, 51% of households are one person living alone, more than in 95% 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 Nièvre median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 1.6 people on average. Across the comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Median living standard: €23,270 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.
At €23,270 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 79% of compared French towns.
More households headed by a retired person than 99% of compared French towns: 56%
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
Just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a retired person make up 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Above 83% of compared French towns: 14% of residents 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.
13% of residents are foreign nationals, against 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.
Married residents: 36%, a lower share than 87% 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
Single residents make up 24%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification: 27%, a higher share than 84% 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
The figure for graduates of higher education is 24% in Mhère and 30% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 226 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Mhère the oldest (66.1).
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 Mhère
What is the population of Mhère?
226 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (245).
How old are Mhère’s residents?
The median age is 66.1, older than 99% of compared French towns. 3.4% are under 18 and 54% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mhère?
170, with occasional dwellings: 50% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mhère?
INSEE counts 31 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 14% of residents, and 28 foreign nationals (13%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mhère?
€23,270 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.