A higher share of couples with children than 96% of compared French towns, at 37%
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 0.5% of homes are flats in La Guierche. The 2023 Census counted 1,300 residents in 530 households. For La Guierche, the census puts households without a car at 3.1%. At 5.2%, the share of households in social housing is lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
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 La Guierche
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 88 second homes and occasional dwellings in La Guierche, 14% of its 640 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 99% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
A town of families
37% of households are couples with children and 8.7% single parents with children; 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing fast
La Guierche had 1,066 residents at the 2012 census and 1,300 in 2023, up 22%: faster growth than in 92% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
14% of homes are second homes, more than in 90% 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
Of all households, 7.7% moved in during the last two years and 18% have stayed three decades or more. On empty homes, La Guierche sits lower than 86% of compared French towns: 4.1%. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%.
La Guierche grew +22% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 92% 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
The years 2012 to 2017 brought +3%; 2017 to 2023, +18%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Sarthe town ±0%.
La Guierche ranks below 93% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 14%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ La Guierche 39.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 9.4% of residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. With a median age of 39.3, La Guierche is younger than 83% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
La Guierche ranks below 98% of compared French towns on one-person households: 22%
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
By its share of single-parent households (8.7%), La Guierche is below 71% of compared French towns. Each household has 2.5 people on average. As a reference point, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
A median of €26,700 a year per consumption unit
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 €26,700 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 58% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a retired person than 86% of compared French towns: 24%
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
Households headed by a manual worker: 18% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. The share of households headed by a manager or professional stands at 6.7%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.8% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 94% 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.
The share of foreign nationals trails 95% of compared French towns: 0.9%. The median compared commune in Sarthe has 2.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 94% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Below 93% of compared French towns: 20% of residents 15 and over are single
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 residents: 47%, above 80% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
La Guierche ranks below 83% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 13%
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 census found that 29% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in La Guierche. By way of comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,300 to 2,582 people: this is the 2nd youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
La Guierche 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Guierche | 39.3 | 14% | 14% | 1.8% |
| La Bazoge 3,796 · 2.4 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 1.5% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Saturnin 2,774 · 4.1 mi | 47.8 | 25% | 1.3% | 3.7% |
| La Milesse 2,617 · 4.5 mi | 44.2 | 20% | 1.1% | 2.4% |
| Savigné-l'Évêque 4,031 · 5.1 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 1.4% | 1% |
| Sargé-lès-le-Mans 3,851 · 5.9 mi | 50.7 | 28% | 1% | 3% |
| Coulaines 8,121 · 6.2 mi | 40.1 | 21% | 0.7% | 12% |
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 Guierche
What is the population of La Guierche?
1,300 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 22% more than in 2012 (1,066).
How old are La Guierche’s residents?
The median age is 39.3, younger than 83% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Guierche?
88, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Guierche?
INSEE counts 23 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.8% of residents, and 12 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Guierche?
€26,700 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 9, 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.