Maché ranks below 98% of compared French towns on flats: 3.3%
Empty homes: 3.4%, below 93% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Maché was home to 1,831 people in 800 households. In Maché, 3.9% of households have no car. 17% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 84% of compared French towns.
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 Maché
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 99 second homes and occasional dwellings in Maché, 11% of its 930 homes: higher than in 88% of compared French towns. 51% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Growing fast
Maché had 1,303 residents at the 2012 census and 1,831 in 2023, up 41%: faster growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 88% of compared French towns: 11%
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
Long tenure is the mark of 14% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 16% (under two years). Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. 5.1% of households rent social housing (HLM), a lower share than in 86% of compared French towns.
Maché grew +41% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 99% 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 median Vendée town changed +9% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +19% and the next six +19%.
A median age of 41: Maché is younger than 73% 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
■ Maché 41. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 10% of residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 112 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
Above 84% of compared French towns: 32% of households are couples with children
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
Households here average 2.3 people each. 30% of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 76% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. The share of single-parent households trails 78% of compared French towns: 8.2%.
Median living standard: €25,090 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.
Half of residents live in households above €25,090 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 59% of compared French towns.
30% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 99% 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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 4.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Maché. To put it in context, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. 28% of households are headed by a retired person, or about one in four.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 80% of compared French towns: 3.2%
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.
Here 2.3% of residents are foreign nationals, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. Across the comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
Single residents: 22%, a lower share than 77% 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
Here, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
Only 22% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Maché
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 Maché, 16%. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 1,831 to 2,582 people: this is the 4th youngest
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.
5 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Maché
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maché | 41 | 17% | 11% | 3.2% |
| Aizenay 10,365 · 4 mi | 40.3 | 18% | 1.3% | 1.6% |
| Coëx 3,428 · 5.2 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 9.8% | 1.7% |
| Saint-Christophe-du-Ligneron 2,727 · 5.4 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 2.9% | 2.2% |
| Commequiers 3,735 · 7 mi | 46.9 | 26% | 7.9% | 2.2% |
| Le Poiré-sur-Vie 8,649 · 9.1 mi | 42.1 | 18% | 1.8% | 1.3% |
| Venansault 4,757 · 9.5 mi | 44.6 | 20% | 0.7% | 2.3% |
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 Maché
What is the population of Maché?
1,831 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 41% more than in 2012 (1,303).
How old are Maché’s residents?
The median age is 41, younger than 73% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Maché?
99, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Maché?
INSEE counts 58 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.2% of residents, and 42 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Maché?
€25,090 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 October 30, 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.