Older than 93% of compared French towns: half of Gacé is over 54.4
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 16% of households are couples with children here. The 2023 Census put Gacé’s population at 1,766, in 890 households. On the census count, 44% of households are headed by a retired person. Higher than in 88% of compared French towns: 26% of households rent social housing (HLM).
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 Gacé
Fewer residents than in 2012
Gacé had 2,031 residents at the 2012 census and 1,766 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Gacé’s residents are under 54.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 14% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 140 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −13% since 2012, behind 99% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved −8%, and from 2017 to 2023 −5%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Orne town −5%.
Gacé sits above 92% of compared French towns for residents aged 65 and over (33%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gacé 54.4. The median compared French town: 44.
The census found that 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in Gacé. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households: 45%, a higher share than 84% 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 Orne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 1.9 people. Single-parent households are more common here than in just over four fifths of compared French towns. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Gacé ranks above 91% of compared French towns on empty homes: 13%
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
15% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 10% moved in within the last two years. On second homes, Gacé sits higher than 75% of compared French towns: 4.7%. The comparison figure for empty homes is 6.7% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%; Gacé has 18%.
€21,960 a year: the median standard of living
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 Gacé’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €21,960 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 89% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 3.4%, a lower share than 96% 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
Compared with 14% in the typical compared French town, a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker here. Set beside that, 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).
Only 4% of residents are immigrants in Gacé
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 Orne has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 73% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. For Gacé, the census puts foreign nationals at 3.6%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 72% of compared French towns: 39% of residents 15 and over are married
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 single residents tops 67% of compared French towns: 28%. For comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Below 98% of compared French towns: 14% of adults out of school hold a higher-education 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification is 19%; Gacé has 32%. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 7th oldest of 41 French towns of 1,766 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Around Gacé, 1 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gacé | 54.4 | 33% | 4.7% | 4% |
| Gouffern en Auge 3,636 · 8.9 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 11% | 3.1% |
| La Ferté-en-Ouche 2,938 · 10.2 mi | 49.4 | 27% | 17% | 3% |
| Vimoutiers 2,978 · 10.3 mi | 60.1 | 43% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| Sées 4,168 · 14.1 mi | 51.8 | 33% | 2.9% | 1.9% |
| Argentan 13,527 · 14.8 mi | 46.3 | 27% | 2.3% | 8.2% |
| L'Aigle 7,663 · 15.1 mi | 47.4 | 28% | 2.7% | 11% |
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 Gacé
What is the population of Gacé?
1,766 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (2,031).
How old are Gacé’s residents?
The median age is 54.4, older than 93% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gacé?
50, with occasional dwellings: 4.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gacé?
INSEE counts 71 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4% of residents, and 64 foreign nationals (3.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gacé?
€21,960 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.