Photo: ToucanWings · CC BY-SA 3.0Households headed by a manager or professional make up 35% in Versailles, more than in 98% of compared French towns
The share of flats is 89%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 15 to 24 account for 15%. On households without a car, Versailles sits higher than 95% of compared French towns: 29%. The 2023 Census counted 84,095 residents in 37,740 households.
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 Versailles
Many graduates
67% of residents 15 and over who have left education hold a diploma above the bac, 42% a master’s or more (bac+5). Qualifications ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Versailles’s population moved −2% on 2012, less than in 76% 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
Over those years, the median Yvelines town changed +7% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +1%, then −2% to 2023.
Younger than 84% of compared French towns: half of Versailles is under 39
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Versailles 39. The median compared French town: 44.
Nearly a fifth of Versailles’ residents are 65 or older, against 17% in the median Yvelines town and 22% in the median compared French town; 22% are under 18.
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%.
43% of households are one person living alone, more than in 78% 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 Yvelines median and the France median
Living alone · share
Compared with 10% in the typical compared French town, 8.5% of households are single parents here. On couples with children, Versailles sits higher than 51% of compared French towns: 25%. The benchmark for one-person households in the typical compared French town: 35%. The average household has 2.2 people.
Second homes: 4.8%, a higher share than 76% of compared French towns
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
Households in social housing make up 17%, against 12% in the typical compared French town. Empty homes are more common here than in 63% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €38,530 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €38,530 a year: higher than in 98% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 7.9% of residents.
A smaller share of households headed by a manual worker than 99% of compared French towns: 3.3%
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
24% of households are headed by a retired person (typical compared French town: 32%). As a reference point, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A higher share of immigrants than 80% of compared French towns, at 13%
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.
Foreign nationals: 9.3% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 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.
In Versailles, 32% of residents 15 and over are single, more than in 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
More married residents than in nearly three fifths of compared French towns: 44%. By way of comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 67% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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
Where 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Versailles has 8.6%. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
The 14th oldest of 41 French towns of 68,092 to 103,671 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 Poitiers (30), the oldest Cannes (50.3).
Versailles is younger than 4 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Versailles | 39 | 19% | 4.8% | 13% |
| Viroflay 17,237 · 1.5 mi | 40 | 17% | 2.4% | 13% |
| Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt 30,689 · 1.6 mi | 47.1 | 26% | 3.4% | 12% |
| Buc 5,816 · 2.1 mi | 42 | 20% | 1.7% | 11% |
| Chaville 20,594 · 2.2 mi | 38.1 | 15% | 2.8% | 17% |
| Vélizy-Villacoublay 23,011 · 2.6 mi | 36.8 | 17% | 4.7% | 15% |
| Ville-d'Avray 11,089 · 2.6 mi | 44.3 | 19% | 3.8% | 15% |
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 Versailles
What is the population of Versailles?
84,095 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (85,424).
How old are Versailles’ residents?
The median age is 39, younger than 84% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 19% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Versailles?
2,070, with occasional dwellings: 4.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Versailles?
INSEE counts 10,690 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 7,820 foreign nationals (9.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Versailles?
€38,530 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 7.9% 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 8, 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.