Households without a car: 3.2%, a lower share than 98% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. 70 residents in 31 households: that is Peray at the 2023 Census. The census found that 7% of residents are 15 to 24 here. In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker; locally, 33%.
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 Peray
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 7 second homes and occasional dwellings in Peray, 17% of its 42 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 100% 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.
17% of homes are second homes, a share 92% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Against a figure of 6.7% in the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes in Peray comes in at 9.6%. Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for second homes is 2.1% in the typical compared French town.
+1% since 2012: slower than 64% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −10%, then +13% to 2023. Over those years, the median Sarthe town changed ±0% and the median compared French town +5%.
Older than 58% of compared French towns: half of Peray is over 45.2
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Peray 45.2. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 24%, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Peray ranks above 98% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 17%
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
25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, against 17% in Peray. Single-parent households: 10% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. On average, 2.3 people share a household. Fewer one-person households than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns: 33%.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 55% of compared French towns: 33%
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 32% 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).
Below 68% of compared French towns: 2.8% of residents are foreign nationals
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.
Across Peray, 7% of residents are immigrants. For comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
Peray ranks above 82% of compared French towns on single residents: 31%
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 Peray, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 83% of compared French towns: 21%
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
Nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, against 25% in Peray. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
21st highest median age among 41 French towns of 70 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Every neighbor is older than Peray
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peray | 45.2 | 24% | 17% | 7% |
| Bonnétable 3,703 · 5.7 mi | 53.5 | 34% | 4.5% | 1.7% |
| Mamers 4,996 · 6.9 mi | 50.9 | 32% | 1.4% | 4.2% |
| Savigné-l'Évêque 4,031 · 12.4 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 1.4% | 1% |
| La Ferté-Bernard 8,740 · 13.6 mi | 50.4 | 31% | 3% | 6.8% |
| Montfort-le-Gesnois 2,939 · 13.9 mi | 46.2 | 26% | 2.2% | 1.1% |
| Fresnay-sur-Sarthe 2,928 · 13.9 mi | 51 | 33% | 7% | 2.2% |
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 Peray
What is the population of Peray?
70 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (69).
How old are Peray’s residents?
The median age is 45.2, older than 58% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Peray?
7, with occasional dwellings: 17% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Peray?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (2.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.