In Alençon, 13% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns
Where 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, Alençon has 10%. At the 2023 Census Alençon was home to 25,490 people in 13,530 households. 16% of residents are 15 to 24, or about one in six. On flats, Alençon sits higher than 84% of compared French towns: 61%.
Throughout this page, the Orne 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 Alençon
Many people living alone
55% of Alençon’s households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Social housing
36% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 28% rent privately and 35% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Alençon changed by −3% from 2012 to 2023, behind 82% 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
Over those years, the median Orne town changed −5% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −2%, then −1% to 2023.
Alençon is younger than 60% of compared French towns: a median age of 42.7
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Alençon 42.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 98% of compared French towns: 55%
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 Orne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 1.8 people each. At 12%, the share of single-parent households is higher than in 82% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
36% of households rent social housing (HLM), more than in 96% 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
Against a figure of 2.1% in the typical compared French town, the share of second homes in Alençon comes in at 1.1%. For households in social housing, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 12%. The share of households without a car stands at 28%.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €21,150 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 Alençon is €21,150 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 93% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 29.6%.
Below 67% of compared French towns: 7.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%; Alençon has 16%. Put another way, about one in three: 33% of households are headed by a retired person. For comparison, nearly one in ten 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).
Alençon: 12% of residents are immigrants, above 79% 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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Alençon has 10%. 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.
30% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 98% 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
With single residents at 38%, Alençon is ahead of 96% of compared French towns on that count. The usual figure: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Alençon ranks above 91% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 30%
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
In Alençon, 23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. The share of adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town is 19%.
41 French towns of 24,136 to 26,924 people: this is the 16th 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.
Grigny is the youngest (31); Biarritz the oldest (55.2).
Alençon 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alençon | 42.7 | 24% | 1.1% | 12% |
| Saint-Germain-du-Corbéis 3,636 · 1.4 mi | 54 | 35% | 1.4% | 5% |
| Fresnay-sur-Sarthe 2,928 · 10.1 mi | 51 | 33% | 7% | 2.2% |
| Sées 4,168 · 12.7 mi | 51.8 | 33% | 2.9% | 1.9% |
| Mamers 4,996 · 13.9 mi | 50.9 | 32% | 1.4% | 4.2% |
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 Alençon
What is the population of Alençon?
25,490 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (26,305).
How old are Alençon’s residents?
The median age is 42.7, younger than 60% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Alençon?
160, with occasional dwellings: 1.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Alençon?
INSEE counts 3,180 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 12% of residents, and 2,630 foreign nationals (10%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Alençon?
€21,150 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 29.6% 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 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.