A median age of 35.2: Pierrelaye is younger than 96% of compared French towns
Set against 32% in the typical compared French town, 18% of households are headed by a retired person in Pierrelaye. Roughly three in ten: 29% of households are one person living alone. On flats, Pierrelaye sits higher than 72% of compared French towns: 47%. The 2023 Census counted 10,130 residents in 3,880 households.
Throughout this page, the Val-d'Oise 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 Pierrelaye
A young town
Half of Pierrelaye’s residents are under 35.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 22% are under 15 and 12% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 2,100 immigrants in Pierrelaye (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 20% of residents, against 16% for the median compared commune in Val-d'Oise. 17% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Growing fast
Pierrelaye had 8,218 residents at the 2012 census and 10,130 in 2023, up 23%: faster growth than in 93% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
+23% since 2012, a pace 93% of compared French towns didn’t match
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 same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Val-d'Oise town +8%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +2%; from 2017 to 2023, +21%.
12% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 97% 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
■ Pierrelaye 35.2. The median compared French town: 44.
11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, against 13% in Pierrelaye. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Val-d'Oise 51.5%, France 51.8%.
Pierrelaye ranks above 97% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 16%
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 Val-d'Oise median and the France median
Living alone · share
32% of households are couples with children, against 25% in the median compared French town; 16% are single parents with their children (10%). On average, 2.6 people share a household.
Households in social housing make up 22% in Pierrelaye, more than in 81% 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
Compared with 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 5.5% of homes stand empty here. For Pierrelaye, the census puts second homes at 0.8%. 14% of households have no car, more than in 67% of compared French towns. On average, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €26,090 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €26,090 a year: higher than in 51% of compared French towns. Some 18.0% of residents fall below the poverty line.
In Pierrelaye, 13% of households are headed by a manager or professional, more than in 69% 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
Put another way, about one in seven: 15% of households are headed by a manual worker. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manager or professional come to 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Above 93% of compared French towns: 20% of residents are immigrants
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 Val-d'Oise has 16%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 93% of compared French towns. Foreign nationals account for 17%. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
32% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 86% 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
Where 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, Pierrelaye has 41%. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
33% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, more than in 60% 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 share of adults with no qualification stands at 19%. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
The youngest of 41 French towns of 9,957 to 10,311 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 35.2 in Pierrelaye to 51.2 in Mazamet.
Pierrelaye sits below 5 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pierrelaye | 35.2 | 12% | 0.8% | 20% |
| Herblay-sur-Seine 31,779 · 1.6 mi | 37.3 | 13% | 0.7% | 15% |
| Beauchamp 9,849 · 1.9 mi | 40.5 | 19% | 1.2% | 17% |
| Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône 25,578 · 2.3 mi | 35.3 | 12% | 0.6% | 25% |
| Éragny-sur-Oise 18,436 · 2.5 mi | 35.9 | 14% | 0.8% | 17% |
| Montigny-lès-Cormeilles 22,457 · 2.6 mi | 34.9 | 13% | 0.7% | 24% |
| Bessancourt 8,869 · 2.7 mi | 36.9 | 15% | 1% | 15% |
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 Pierrelaye
What is the population of Pierrelaye?
10,130 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 23% more than in 2012 (8,218).
How old are Pierrelaye’s residents?
The median age is 35.2, younger than 96% of compared French towns. 27% are under 18 and 12% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pierrelaye?
32, with occasional dwellings: 0.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pierrelaye?
INSEE counts 2,060 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 20% of residents, and 1,760 foreign nationals (17%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pierrelaye?
€26,090 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% 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.