36% of households are headed by a manager or professional, a share 98% of compared French towns don’t reach
With flats at 57%, Houilles is ahead of 81% of compared French towns on that count. In 2023, the Census found 33,983 residents in the town, living in 14,600 households. On the census count, 23% of households have no car. Half are older than 38.5, younger than 86% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Yvelines 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 Houilles
Immigrants
INSEE counts 6,300 immigrants in Houilles (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 18% of residents, against 15% for the median compared commune in Yvelines. 14% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Many graduates
56% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 31% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
A young town
Half of Houilles’ residents are under 38.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 19% are under 15 and 15% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Growth of +5% since 2012 puts Houilles ahead of 50% 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
In two steps, −1% to 2017 and +6% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and +7% in Yvelines.
Half of Houilles is under 38.5, younger than 86% 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
■ Houilles 38.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Nothing unusual on residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 91% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yvelines 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Above 79% of compared French towns: 31% 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 Yvelines median and the France median
Living alone · share
10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, against 11% in Houilles. Couples with children make up 25% in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2.3 people each.
A smaller share of empty homes than 69% of compared French towns: 5.4%
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 16% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 9.4% (under two years). Houilles has fewer second homes than 60% of compared French towns, at 1.6%. In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%. The figure for households in social housing is 14% in Houilles and 12% in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €34,450 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 Houilles’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €34,450 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 9.2% of residents are below the line.
A lower share of households headed by a retired person than 93% of compared French towns, at 21%
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 make up 6.5%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 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).
In Houilles, 18% of residents are immigrants, more than in 91% 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 Yvelines has 15%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 91% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%. Census figures put foreign nationals at 14% in Houilles.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Houilles: 29% of residents 15 and over are single, above 72% 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 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Houilles comes in at 44%. By way of comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Houilles sits above 96% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (56%)
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
Compared with 19% in the typical compared French town, 13% of adults out of school have no qualification here. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
41 French towns of 31,778 to 36,434 people: this is the 16th 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 Creil (31.8), the oldest Aix-les-Bains (48.5).
A younger town than 5 of the 6 around it: Houilles
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houilles | 38.5 | 15% | 1.6% | 18% |
| Sartrouville 52,763 · 1.1 mi | 38.5 | 15% | 0.9% | 24% |
| Carrières-sur-Seine 14,791 · 1.1 mi | 38.7 | 13% | 4.8% | 16% |
| Bezons 36,434 · 1.2 mi | 34.6 | 12% | 0.8% | 33% |
| Montesson 14,549 · 2.2 mi | 43.2 | 17% | 1% | 14% |
| Maisons-Laffitte 23,093 · 2.4 mi | 41.6 | 18% | 3.5% | 16% |
| Chatou 30,598 · 2.5 mi | 40.5 | 17% | 2.2% | 17% |
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 Houilles
What is the population of Houilles?
33,983 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (32,399).
How old are Houilles’ residents?
The median age is 38.5, younger than 86% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 15% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Houilles?
250, with occasional dwellings: 1.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Houilles?
INSEE counts 6,270 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 18% of residents, and 4,620 foreign nationals (14%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Houilles?
€34,450 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 9.2% 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 9, 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.