Photo: Bococo · CC BY-SA 3.0Half of Le Fenouiller is over 57, older than 96% of compared French towns
2.7% of homes stand empty (typical compared French town: 6.7%). Locally, 52% of households are headed by a retired person. On households without a car, Le Fenouiller sits lower than 86% of compared French towns: 5.3%. There were 2,380 households in the town at the 2023 Census, home to 4,978 residents.
Throughout this page, the Vendée 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 Le Fenouiller
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 380 second homes and occasional dwellings in Le Fenouiller, 13% of its 2,830 homes: higher than in 90% 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Le Fenouiller’s residents are under 57 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 35% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.1% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
1.4% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% 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
Second homes make up 13%, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. On average, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. In Le Fenouiller, 0.9% of households rent social housing (HLM).
+14% since 2012, a pace 79% 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
In two steps, +8% to 2017 and +6% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +9% in Vendée.
Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 98% of compared French towns: 6.9%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Le Fenouiller 57. The median compared French town: 44.
35% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 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: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
3.4% of households are single parents, fewer than in 99% 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 Vendée median and the France median
Living alone · share
Couples with children make up 21%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. For Le Fenouiller, the census puts one-person households at 30%. In the typical compared French town, single-parent households come to 10%.
Median standard of living: €28,060 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 Le Fenouiller’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €28,060 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 71% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 5.0% of residents.
A lower share of households headed by a manager or professional than 78% of compared French towns, at 5.9%
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
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Le Fenouiller has 9.9%. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 1.7% of residents are immigrants in Le Fenouiller
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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Le Fenouiller has 0.8%. Elsewhere, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 95% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Vendée has 2.1%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
60% of residents 15 and over are married, 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
25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 15% in Le Fenouiller. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 74% of compared French towns, at 23%
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
In the typical compared French town, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification; in Le Fenouiller, 17%. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
41 French towns of 4,922 to 5,033 people: this is the 2nd 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.
At the ends of the range sit Laigneville (37.3), the youngest, and Gruissan (58.6), the oldest.
Median age: 3 of the 6 towns around Le Fenouiller are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Fenouiller | 57 | 35% | 13% | 1.7% |
| Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie 8,333 · 1.8 mi | 63.7 | 48% | 49% | 3.1% |
| Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez 13,074 · 2.7 mi | 61.8 | 43% | 61% | 2.2% |
| Commequiers 3,735 · 4.8 mi | 46.9 | 26% | 7.9% | 2.2% |
| Bretignolles-sur-Mer 5,344 · 6.1 mi | 62.9 | 46% | 65% | 2.5% |
| Soullans 4,654 · 6.1 mi | 53.5 | 31% | 7.3% | 1.7% |
| Coëx 3,428 · 7.1 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 9.8% | 1.7% |
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 Le Fenouiller
What is the population of Le Fenouiller?
4,978 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 14% more than in 2012 (4,377).
How old are Le Fenouiller’s residents?
The median age is 57, older than 96% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 35% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Le Fenouiller?
380, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Le Fenouiller?
INSEE counts 83 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.7% of residents, and 41 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Le Fenouiller?
€28,060 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 5.0% 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.