Half of Vézelay is over 56.8, older than 96% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM); in Vézelay, 3.3%. Put another way, about one in two: 48% of households are headed by a retired person. Flats are rarer here than in 84% of compared French towns. 476 residents in 190 households: that is Vézelay at the 2023 Census.
Throughout this page, the Yonne 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 Vézelay
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 97 second homes and occasional dwellings in Vézelay, 31% of its 320 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 91% 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 Vézelay’s residents are under 56.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many graduates
51% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 28% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
31% of homes are second homes, a share 95% 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
With empty homes at 10%, Vézelay is ahead of 81% of compared French towns on that count. Households without a car come to 12% locally, about one in ten. For comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Vézelay grew +10% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 68% 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
Here the change came as −1% to 2017, then +11% to 2023. Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −4% in Yonne.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 6.2% in Vézelay, less than in 99% 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
■ Vézelay 56.8. The median compared French town: 44.
A third of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 2.7%, a lower share than 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 Yonne median and the France median
Living alone · share
In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children; in Vézelay, 17%. Here, 43% of households are one person living alone. As a yardstick, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
A typical living standard of €18,240 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €18,240 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a manager or professional than 80% of compared French towns: 16%
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
Households headed by a manual worker are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 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).
More immigrants than 67% of compared French towns: 9.3%
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.
With foreign nationals at 6.5%, Vézelay is ahead of two thirds of compared French towns on that count.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Vézelay, 43% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 99% 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
In Vézelay, 30% of residents 15 and over are married, beside 43% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
51% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, a share 93% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Vézelay comes in at 14%. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
The 5th oldest of 41 French towns of 476 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 old as Vézelay
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 Vézelay
What is the population of Vézelay?
476 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% more than in 2012 (434).
How old are Vézelay’s residents?
The median age is 56.8, older than 96% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vézelay?
97, with occasional dwellings: 31% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vézelay?
INSEE counts 44 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.3% of residents, and 31 foreign nationals (6.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vézelay?
€18,240 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.