Photo: Yodaspirine · CC BY-SA 4.0Below 99% of compared French towns: 0.3% of homes are flats
21% of households are one person living alone; in the typical compared French town the figure is 35%. Empty homes account for 2.4%. Few places have so few second homes: 0.5% here, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns. Guécélard counted 3,202 residents and 1,270 households at the 2023 Census.
Throughout this page, the Sarthe 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 Guécélard
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 5.5% single parents with children; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Guécélard’s population changed by +13% since 2012, more than in 76% 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 +6% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% in Sarthe.
9% of residents are 15 to 24, below 82% 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
■ Guécélard 43.2. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Guécélard is 43.2, lower than in 56% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24. Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over, or about one in five.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of couples with children than 91% of compared French towns: 34%
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 Sarthe median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 2.5 people each. To put it in context, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Lower than in 98% of compared French towns: 5.5% of households are single parents.
Fewer households without a car than 98% of compared French towns: 3.3%
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
Nearly a quarter of households have been in place 30 years or more; 6.5% moved in within the last two years. Elsewhere, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few households in social housing: 6.2% here, fewer than in 81% of compared French towns.
Median standard of living: €27,470 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.
Half of residents live in households above €27,470 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 66% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 6.0% of residents.
Households headed by a retired person make up 37% in Guécélard, more than in 73% 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
16% of households are headed by a manual worker (typical compared French town: 14%). Set beside that, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. In Guécélard, 7.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Guécélard sits below 96% of compared French towns for immigrants (1.6%)
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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Guécélard, 1.1%. The median compared commune in Sarthe has 2.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 96% of compared French towns. For comparison, 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.
16% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 99% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%; Guécélard has 55%. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Only 26% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Guécélard
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
17% of adults out of school have no qualification; in the typical compared French town the figure is 19%. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
10th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 3,182 to 3,222
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 Haveluy (37.2), the oldest Dolus-d'Oléron (57.1).
Older than Guécélard: 4 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guécélard | 43.2 | 22% | 0.5% | 1.6% |
| Spay 2,808 · 3.1 mi | 48.8 | 25% | 1.8% | 1.9% |
| Moncé-en-Belin 3,697 · 3.3 mi | 42.2 | 17% | 1.8% | 1.2% |
| Roëzé-sur-Sarthe 2,514 · 3.3 mi | 50.6 | 24% | 4.8% | 1.7% |
| Laigné-Saint-Gervais 4,252 · 4.1 mi | 47.6 | 25% | 1.8% | 1.5% |
| Arnage 5,445 · 4.4 mi | 47.6 | 28% | 0.9% | 5.7% |
| Cérans-Foulletourte 3,341 · 4.5 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 2.8% | 1.4% |
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 Guécélard
What is the population of Guécélard?
3,202 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% more than in 2012 (2,844).
How old are Guécélard’s residents?
The median age is 43.2, younger than 56% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Guécélard?
6, with occasional dwellings: 0.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Guécélard?
INSEE counts 50 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.6% of residents, and 36 foreign nationals (1.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Guécélard?
€27,470 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 6.0% 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.