Nancy Population and Area (Meurthe-et-Moselle)
Largest city in France 2026: up-to-date figures for Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle)
Nancy: Population and Area
With 104,988 inhabitants (INSEE total population in force on January 1, 2026), Nancy is the 42nd most populous town in France in 2026 and the most populous in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, out of 591 communes. It covers 15 km² (12,098th largest area in France, 75th largest in the department), with a population density of 6,995 inhabitants per km², or 64 times the national average (110 inhabitants/km²), which ranks it 83rd in France for density.
Nancy is located in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department (54), in the Grand Est region (formerly Lorraine), where it ranks 5th by population out of 5,115 communes. It is the most populous town in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, which is home to 743,353 people over 5,246 km².
See the full ranking of communes in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department and the regional ranking: largest city in Grand Est.
Towns of similar size in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department: Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy (pop. 30,204), Lunéville (pop. 18,538), Toul (pop. 15,955).
Sources: INSEE, official population figures in force on January 1, 2026 (total population); areas: IGN / Observatoire des territoires; INSEE code 54395. Rankings are calculated across the 34,858 communes of metropolitan and overseas France in our database.
Nancy, one of the densest cities in France
The prefecture of Meurthe-et-Moselle and the former capital of the Dukes of Lorraine, Nancy is the second-largest town in Lorraine, behind Metz, but the region's largest urban area. The explanation lies in its tiny territory: squeezed between the Forest of Haye and the Meurthe river, the commune is one of the densest in France outside Île-de-France, with a high concentration of high-rise buildings in its center.
A major university and heritage city
A ducal capital until 1766, Nancy inherited Place Stanislas and two other squares listed by UNESCO, followed by the Art Nouveau of the École de Nancy. Its current size owes less to industry, which developed in the neighboring valleys, than to its role as a regional capital for services, for healthcare, with a cutting-edge university hospital (CHRU), and for higher education: the University of Lorraine and its engineering schools make Nancy one of the most student-oriented cities in France, which explains its young population and high resident turnover.