A smaller share of flats than 99% of compared French towns: 2.5%
Compared with 12% in the typical compared French town, 6.5% of households rent social housing (HLM) here. Households headed by a manual worker account for 23%. At 8%, the share of second homes is higher than in 85% of compared French towns. Parcé-sur-Sarthe had 1,950 residents in 860 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 Parcé-sur-Sarthe
Fewer residents than in 2012
Parcé-sur-Sarthe had 2,141 residents at the 2012 census and 1,950 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Parcé-sur-Sarthe changed by −9% from 2012 to 2023, behind 96% 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 change was −2% from 2012 to 2017 and −7% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Sarthe town ±0%.
Half of Parcé-sur-Sarthe is over 48.2, older than 75% 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
■ Parcé-sur-Sarthe 48.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Parcé-sur-Sarthe has 23%. Residents aged 15 to 24: 11% of the total.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Parcé-sur-Sarthe sits below 85% of compared French towns for single-parent households (7.6%)
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 one-person households (32%), Parcé-sur-Sarthe is below 66% of compared French towns. At the same time, on couples with children, Parcé-sur-Sarthe sits higher than 64% of compared French towns: 28%. The wider picture: one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Households average 2.2 people.
A smaller share of households without a car than 68% of compared French towns: 7.8%
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
Turnover: nearly one in ten households moved in less than two years ago, and 21% have lived in their home 30 years or more. For comparison, just over one in ten households have no car in the typical compared French town. Empty homes: 6.9%, near enough the figure in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €25,950 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 €25,950 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 50% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person: 37%, a higher share than 75% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 7.6%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 2.3% of residents are immigrants in Parcé-sur-Sarthe
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 Sarthe has 2.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 89% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The share of foreign nationals stands at 1.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 20%, a lower share than 92% 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
49% of residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Below 85% of compared French towns: 20% 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
The share of adults with no qualification tops 80% of compared French towns: 26%. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
41 French towns of 1,950 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th oldest
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).
2 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Parcé-sur-Sarthe
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parcé-sur-Sarthe | 48.2 | 23% | 8% | 2.3% |
| Noyen-sur-Sarthe 2,556 · 5.1 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 6.4% | 1.3% |
| Sablé-sur-Sarthe 12,326 · 6.2 mi | 43.7 | 24% | 2.7% | 14% |
| Précigné 2,877 · 7.7 mi | 48.7 | 23% | 3.7% | 1.5% |
| La Flèche 14,947 · 10.9 mi | 49.1 | 27% | 2.4% | 2.9% |
| La Suze-sur-Sarthe 4,693 · 11 mi | 45.3 | 24% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
| Durtal 3,386 · 11.4 mi | 42.7 | 23% | 3.6% | 1.9% |
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 Parcé-sur-Sarthe
What is the population of Parcé-sur-Sarthe?
1,950 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (2,141).
How old are Parcé-sur-Sarthe’s residents?
The median age is 48.2, older than 75% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Parcé-sur-Sarthe?
81, with occasional dwellings: 8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Parcé-sur-Sarthe?
INSEE counts 45 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.3% of residents, and 25 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Parcé-sur-Sarthe?
€25,950 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.