Largest Cities in France 2026: Population Ranking

France's cities at a glance

Updated October 2026

Dots sized by population · Paris in orange

France has 1 city with more than a million inhabitants and 51 with more than 100,000 (city-proper figures). The largest is Paris with 2,138,551 people, followed by Marseille (877,215) and Lyon (520,774). The three largest cities together hold about 5.3% of the country's 66.8 million people.

The capital, Paris, is also the largest city.

By region, the most large cities are in Île-de-France (17), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (5), Grand Est (5).

Country-level figures — live population, births and deaths, growth, density and history — are on the France population page; provinces, terrain, rivers and society maps are in the France atlas.

France cities by population

51 cities · GeoNames · city proper

#	City	Region	Population	Share of France
1	ParisCapital	Île-de-France	2,138,551	3.2%
2	Marseille	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	877,215	1.3%
3	Lyon	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	520,774	0.8%
4	Toulouse	Occitanie	511,684	0.8%
5	Nice	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	342,669	0.5%
6	Nantes	Pays de la Loire	325,070	0.5%
7	Marne La Vallée	Île-de-France	318,325	0.5%
8	Strasbourg	Grand Est	274,845	0.4%
9	Bordeaux	New Aquitaine	265,328	0.4%
10	Montpellier	Occitanie	248,252	0.4%
11	Lille	Hauts-de-France	238,695	0.4%
12	Paris 15 Vaugirard	Île-de-France	229,713	0.3%
13	Rennes	Brittany	227,830	0.3%
14	Reims	Grand Est	196,565	0.3%
15	Le Havre	Normandy	185,972	0.3%
16	Paris 20 Ménilmontant	Île-de-France	185,140	0.3%
17	Cergy-Pontoise	Île-de-France	183,430	0.3%
18	Paris 18 Buttes-Montmartre	Île-de-France	183,127	0.3%
19	Paris 13 Gobelins	Île-de-France	181,271	0.3%
20	Paris 19 Buttes-Chaumont	Île-de-France	178,691	0.3%
21	Saint-Étienne	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	176,280	0.3%
22	Toulon	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	168,701	0.3%
23	Angers	Pays de la Loire	168,279	0.3%
24	Dijon	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté	159,941	0.2%
25	Paris 16 Passy	Île-de-France	159,386	0.2%
26	Paris 17 Batignolles-Monceau	Île-de-France	159,212	0.2%
27	Grenoble	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	158,552	0.2%
28	Nîmes	Occitanie	148,236	0.2%
29	Clermont-Ferrand	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	147,865	0.2%
30	Aix-en-Provence	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	146,821	0.2%
31	Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines	Île-de-France	146,598	0.2%
32	Brest	Brittany	144,899	0.2%
33	Le Mans	Pays de la Loire	144,515	0.2%
34	Amiens	Hauts-de-France	143,086	0.2%
35	Tours	Centre-Val de Loire	141,621	0.2%
36	Limoges	New Aquitaine	141,176	0.2%
37	Paris 11 Popincourt	Île-de-France	138,170	0.2%
38	Paris 12 Reuilly	Île-de-France	138,024	0.2%
39	Paris 14 Observatoire	Île-de-France	136,455	0.2%
40	Villeurbanne	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	131,445	0.2%
41	Besançon	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté	128,426	0.2%
42	Metz	Grand Est	123,914	0.2%
43	Orléans	Centre-Val de Loire	116,344	0.2%
44	Rouen	Normandy	116,331	0.2%
45	Mulhouse	Grand Est	111,430	0.2%
46	Montreuil	Île-de-France	111,240	0.2%
47	Perpignan	Occitanie	110,706	0.2%
48	Caen	Normandy	110,624	0.2%
49	Boulogne-Billancourt	Île-de-France	108,782	0.2%
50	Nancy	Grand Est	105,058	0.2%
51	Argenteuil	Île-de-France	101,475	0.2%

Cities with 300,000 or more people link to their own page. The list keeps every city of 100,000+ and at least the 30 largest places of the country.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in France?

Paris, with about 2,138,551 inhabitants (city proper).

What is the capital of France?

Paris — population 2,138,551, the largest city in the country.

How many cities in France have over one million people?

1: Paris.

Are these metropolitan-area populations?

No. They are city-proper figures (the administrative city) from GeoNames, based on the latest census or official estimate. Metropolitan areas, which include suburbs and satellite towns, are larger — often several times larger for the biggest cities.

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Glostats. (2026). Largest Cities in France 2026: Population Ranking. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://glostats.com/cities/france/

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Figures on this page may be quoted, charted or republished as long as the page is credited with a link. Terms · Download the data as CSV · Embed a live counter.

City populations are GeoNames figures (CC BY 4.0): the latest official census or estimate for the city proper — the municipality, not the wider metropolitan area — so they can differ from "metro area" numbers you see elsewhere. Country populations are live Glostats estimates from the UN World Population Prospects. Page generated 2026-10-20. More about our data.