It is a suburb of the city of Caen, and lies adjacent to it in a northeasterly direction, along the west side of the Canal de Caen à la Mer. Its inhabitants are called Hérouvillais.
Just across the canal from Hérouville is a Renault Trucks manufacturing plant, which is situated between the canal and the Orne River. Just east of the river is the town of Colombelles.
Hérouville-Saint-Clair experienced a very fast development which made it the most populous suburb of Caen. A simple village at the beginning of 1960, the commune passed from fewer than 2,000 inhabitants to almost 25,000 in less than fifteen years. This figure has varied little since 1975.
