La Flèche: 14% of residents are 15 to 24, above 91% of compared French towns
The share of couples with children trails 84% of compared French towns: 17%. At 39%, the share of households headed by a retired person is higher than in just over four fifths of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 14,947 residents and 7,280 households in La Flèche. Households in social housing make up about one in five here (20%).
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.
A ±0% change since 2012: slower than 70% 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 the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Sarthe town ±0%.
La Flèche is older than 79% of compared French towns: a median age of 49.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ La Flèche 49.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 27%, above three quarters of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
La Flèche ranks above 79% of compared French towns on one-person households: 43%
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
There are 2 people in the average household. For comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. 9.8% of households are single parents, fewer than in 53% of compared French towns.
Above 74% of compared French towns: 16% of households have no car
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
One household in six has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. Put another way, about one in 14: 7.4% of homes stand empty. On second homes, La Flèche sits higher than 55% of compared French towns: 2.4%.
A typical living standard of €24,300 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 La Flèche’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,300 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 68% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 16.0% of residents.
In La Flèche, 18% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 74% 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
The share of households headed by a manager or professional trails 60% of compared French towns: 7.9%. The wider picture: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 2.9% in La Flèche, less than in 83% 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.
Foreign nationals make up 2%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 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.
A larger share of single residents than 71% of compared French towns: 28%
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
Married people make up 40% and PACS partners 4.9%, against 43% and 6.1% in the median compared French town; 9.4% are widowed. For comparison, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 28% in La Flèche, more than in 87% 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 22% in La Flèche 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.
4th highest median age among 41 French towns of 14,539 to 15,396
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Lognes is the youngest (34.9); Saint-Jean-de-Luz the oldest (54.3).
Of the 6 towns nearest La Flèche, 1 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Flèche | 49.1 | 27% | 2.4% | 2.9% |
| Durtal 3,386 · 8 mi | 42.7 | 23% | 3.6% | 1.9% |
| Baugé-en-Anjou 11,712 · 10.3 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 7.6% | 2.6% |
| Cérans-Foulletourte 3,341 · 11.1 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 2.8% | 1.4% |
| Le Lude 3,983 · 11.4 mi | 55.9 | 36% | 3.7% | 3.1% |
| Noyen-sur-Sarthe 2,556 · 11.6 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 6.4% | 1.3% |
| Précigné 2,877 · 12.4 mi | 48.7 | 23% | 3.7% | 1.5% |
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 La Flèche
What is the population of La Flèche?
14,947 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (14,963).
How old are La Flèche’s residents?
The median age is 49.1, older than 79% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Flèche?
200, with occasional dwellings: 2.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Flèche?
INSEE counts 430 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.9% of residents, and 300 foreign nationals (2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Flèche?
€24,300 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 16.0% 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.