3.5% of homes are flats, below 98% of compared French towns
Here just over a third of households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. By contrast, on households without a car, Palluau sits lower than 92% of compared French towns: 4.3%. Its 470 households held 1,128 residents at the 2023 Census. Roughly three in ten: 29% of households are one person living alone.
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.
Slower than most: +4% since 2012, behind 53% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +9% for the median Vendée town, the change came in two steps: +2% from 2012 to 2017, then +2% to 2023.
Half of Palluau is under 39.5, younger than 82% 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
■ Palluau 39.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 17%, below just over four fifths of compared French towns. In Palluau, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
14% of households are single parents, a share 92% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Each household has 2.4 people on average. Single-parent households make up 10% in the typical compared French town. On couples with children, Palluau sits higher than nearly two thirds of compared French towns: 28%.
A lower share of households in social housing than 75% of compared French towns, at 7.3%
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
6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, against 7.8% in Palluau. The share of second homes stands at 3.1%. The wider picture: 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €24,140 a year per consumption unit
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.
The median standard of living in Palluau is €24,140 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 70% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 96% of compared French towns: 3.2%
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
In the typical compared French town, 32% of households are headed by a retired person; in Palluau, 30%. Measured more widely, 9.4% of 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).
A lower share of immigrants than 94% of compared French towns, at 1.7%
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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Palluau, 1.2%. Immigrants make up 6.5% 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.
Palluau: 49% of residents 15 and over are married, above 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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Palluau comes in at 21%. Typically, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 82% 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
The share of adults with no qualification trails just over three fifths of compared French towns: 17%. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 2nd youngest of 41 French towns of 1,128 to 2,582 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
No nearby town is as young as Palluau
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palluau | 39.5 | 17% | 3.1% | 1.7% |
| Aizenay 10,365 · 4.5 mi | 40.3 | 18% | 1.3% | 1.6% |
| Legé 4,817 · 6.2 mi | 41.1 | 21% | 3.7% | 1.4% |
| Le Poiré-sur-Vie 8,649 · 6.5 mi | 42.1 | 18% | 1.8% | 1.3% |
| Les Lucs-sur-Boulogne 3,701 · 6.6 mi | 42.1 | 20% | 2.6% | 1.7% |
| Saint-Christophe-du-Ligneron 2,727 · 6.7 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 2.9% | 2.2% |
| Bellevigny 6,240 · 9.2 mi | 41.2 | 17% | 1% | 1.9% |
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 Palluau
What is the population of Palluau?
1,128 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (1,084).
How old are Palluau’s residents?
The median age is 39.5, younger than 82% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Palluau?
17, with occasional dwellings: 3.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Palluau?
INSEE counts 20 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.7% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (1.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Palluau?
€24,140 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 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.