A higher share of second homes than 95% of compared French towns, at 31%
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Mahéru was home to 278 people in 130 households. Census figures put households without a car at 1.6% in the town. In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats; in the town, 2.5%.
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 Mahéru
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 62 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mahéru, 31% of its 200 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 92% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
One home in three in Mahéru is a second home
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
Newcomers of less than two years account for 12% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 24%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Empty homes make up 6%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Mahéru grew +11% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 72% 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 change was +6%; from 2017 to 2023, +5%.
Mahéru is older than 74% of compared French towns: a median age of 47.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mahéru 47.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Roughly one in ten: one in ten residents are 15 to 24. More residents aged 65 and over than in half of compared French towns: 22%.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of couples with children than 65% of compared French towns: 28%
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
Against a figure of 35% in the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households in Mahéru comes in at 32%. In the typical compared French town, couples with children come to 25%. Each household has 2.2 people on average.
Half above, half below €26,520 a year in 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.
The median standard of living in Mahéru is €26,520 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 56% of compared French towns.
Mahéru ranks above 83% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 20%
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 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 12% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. About one in three: that is how common households headed by a retired person are in Mahéru (32%). Households headed by a manual worker make up 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
3.6% of residents are immigrants, below 77% 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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1.8% of residents are foreign nationals here. Elsewhere, 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.
Above 88% of compared French towns: 49% 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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Mahéru comes in at 22%. On average, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification: 16%, a lower share than 69% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education is 30%; Mahéru has 34%. The share of adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town is 19%.
The 15th oldest of 41 French towns of 278 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Mahéru is younger than 5 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahéru | 47.8 | 22% | 31% | 3.6% |
| L'Aigle 7,663 · 10.5 mi | 47.4 | 28% | 2.7% | 11% |
| Tourouvre au Perche 2,955 · 10.5 mi | 52.2 | 31% | 21% | 2.6% |
| Mortagne-au-Perche 3,898 · 11.6 mi | 50 | 32% | 5.9% | 5.1% |
| La Ferté-en-Ouche 2,938 · 12.7 mi | 49.4 | 27% | 17% | 3% |
| Sées 4,168 · 13 mi | 51.8 | 33% | 2.9% | 1.9% |
| Gouffern en Auge 3,636 · 17 mi | 49.5 | 27% | 11% | 3.1% |
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 Mahéru
What is the population of Mahéru?
278 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% more than in 2012 (251).
How old are Mahéru’s residents?
The median age is 47.8, older than 74% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mahéru?
62, with occasional dwellings: 31% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mahéru?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.6% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (1.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mahéru?
€26,520 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.