Photo: Ibex73 · CC BY-SA 4.0Younger than 96% of compared French towns: half of Gentilly is under 35.1
The share of flats is 91%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Here, 47% of households are one person living alone. Gentilly has more households without a car than 99% of compared French towns, at 53%. At the 2023 Census Gentilly was home to 19,963 people in 9,690 households.
Throughout this page, the Val-de-Marne 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 Gentilly
Immigrants
INSEE counts 5,200 immigrants in Gentilly (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 26% of residents, against 23% for the median compared commune in Val-de-Marne. 20% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
A young town
Half of Gentilly’s residents are under 35.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 17% are under 15 and 13% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Social housing
43% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 33% rent privately and 22% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Gentilly had 16,623 residents at the 2012 census and 19,963 in 2023, up 20%: faster growth than in 90% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Gentilly’s population changed by +20% since 2012, more than in 90% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +12%, and from 2017 to 2023 +7%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Val-de-Marne town +7%.
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 96% of compared French towns, at 13%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gentilly 35.1. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 15%, Gentilly is ahead of 96% of compared French towns on that count. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Val-de-Marne 52.1%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 13%, a higher share than 87% of compared French towns
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-de-Marne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Each household has 2 people on average. Compared with other places, couples with children are scarce here: 19%, fewer than in 78% of compared French towns. Single-parent households: 10% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
43% of households rent social housing (HLM), a share 99% 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
Car-free households: one in two, where the median compared French town has 11%. Households in social housing: 12% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Empty homes make up about one in 17 here (5.9%). Second homes are rarer here than in three fifths of compared French towns.
€25,480 a year is the median standard of living here
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 Gentilly’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,480 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 55% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 22.0%.
Only 18% of households are headed by a retired person in Gentilly
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
Nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, against 25% in Gentilly. Fewer households headed by a manual worker than in 83% of compared French towns: 9%. Elsewhere, 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).
More immigrants than 97% of compared French towns: 26%
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.
20% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
42% of residents 15 and over are single, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town, against 31% in Gentilly. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
A larger share of graduates of higher education than 89% of compared French towns: 46%
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
For Gentilly, the census puts adults with no qualification at 18%. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 4th youngest of 41 French towns this size
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 33.9 in Juvisy-sur-Orge to 64.5 in Royan.
Gentilly 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.
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 Gentilly
What is the population of Gentilly?
19,963 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% more than in 2012 (16,623).
How old are Gentilly’s residents?
The median age is 35.1, younger than 96% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 13% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gentilly?
170, with occasional dwellings: 1.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gentilly?
INSEE counts 5,240 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 26% of residents, and 4,070 foreign nationals (20%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gentilly?
€25,480 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 22.0% 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.