A smaller share of flats than 99% of compared French towns: 1.6%
In Vairé, nearly one in ten homes are second homes, beside 2.1% in the typical compared French town. This Vendée town counted 1,960 residents and 830 households at the 2023 Census. Put another way, about one in 20: 4.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional. 5.4% of households have no car, a lower share than in 85% 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 Vairé
Growing fast
Vairé had 1,530 residents at the 2012 census and 1,960 in 2023, up 28%: faster growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Growth of +28% since 2012 puts Vairé ahead of 96% 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 compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Vendée town +9%.
A median age of 42.6: Vairé is younger than 61% 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
■ Vairé 42.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Here one in ten residents are 15 to 24, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 11%. Roughly two in ten: just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
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%.
28% of households are one person living alone, below 84% 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
The average household has 2.3 people. More single-parent households than in 54% of compared French towns: 10%. The wider picture: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Couples with children make up 25%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Below 94% of compared French towns: 2.8% of households rent social housing (HLM)
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
By its share of empty homes (4.3%), Vairé is below 84% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. One in ten households arrived within the last two years, while 13% have stayed 30 years or more.
Standard of living at the median: €25,130 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.
At €25,130 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 59% of compared French towns.
Vairé ranks above 76% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 38%
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
16% of households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: 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).
Immigrants: 1.2%, a lower share than 98% of compared French towns
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 Vendée has 2.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 98% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants. Foreign nationals: 1% of the total.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A smaller share of single residents than 89% of compared French towns: 20%
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
In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married; in Vairé, 45%. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Only 23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Vairé
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
Put another way, about one in six: 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Among 41 French towns of 1,960 to 2,582 people, the 10th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Older than Vairé: 5 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vairé | 42.6 | 22% | 9.4% | 1.2% |
| L'Île-d'Olonne 2,802 · 2.8 mi | 50.5 | 26% | 11% | 1.4% |
| Brem-sur-Mer 2,993 · 3.5 mi | 60.2 | 42% | 39% | 1.4% |
| Les Achards 5,518 · 4.6 mi | 40.5 | 19% | 4.1% | 1.9% |
| Bretignolles-sur-Mer 5,344 · 5.6 mi | 62.9 | 46% | 65% | 2.5% |
| Sainte-Foy 2,717 · 6 mi | 43.4 | 19% | 5.7% | 2.3% |
| Coëx 3,428 · 6.6 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 Vairé
What is the population of Vairé?
1,960 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 28% more than in 2012 (1,530).
How old are Vairé’s residents?
The median age is 42.6, younger than 61% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vairé?
91, with occasional dwellings: 9.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vairé?
INSEE counts 24 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.2% of residents, and 19 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vairé?
€25,130 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.