A median age of 58.5: Chaley is older than 97% of compared French towns
Where 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Chaley has 18%. 12% of homes stand empty, more than in 87% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 129 residents in 79 households. The census found that just over two in five households are headed by a retired person in the town.
Throughout this page, the Ain 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 Chaley
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 50 second homes and occasional dwellings in Chaley, 34% of its 150 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 94% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Chaley’s residents are under 58.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 3.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
59% of Chaley’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 54% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Chaley had 140 residents at the 2012 census and 129 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 95% of compared French towns: 34% of homes are second homes
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
The share of households without a car is 6.3%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Flats are rarer here than in 85% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing: a tenth of the total.
A −8% change since 2012: slower than 94% 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 the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ain town +13%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought −7%; 2017 to 2023, −1%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 5.4%, a lower share than 99% 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
■ Chaley 58.5. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over; in Chaley, 32%. On average, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ain 51.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households make up 59% in Chaley, more than in 99% 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 Ain median and the France median
Living alone · share
The typical household size is 1.6 people. On average, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
€24,170 a year is the median standard of living here
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.
Living standards centre on €24,170 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 69% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a manager or professional than 63% of compared French towns: 12%
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
In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker; in Chaley, 12%. The usual figure: nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals make up 0.8% in Chaley, less than in 97% 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 Ain has 8.5%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 88% of compared French towns. Across Chaley, 2.3% of residents are immigrants. For foreign nationals, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 4.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
17% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 99% 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
In couples, 39% are married and 6.7% in a PACS (median compared French town: 43% and 6.1%); 5.9% are widowed. Elsewhere, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 19% in Chaley, less than in 88% of compared French towns
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
Adults with no qualification: 23%, above 72% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 4th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as old as Chaley
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chaley | 58.5 | 32% | 34% | 2.3% |
| Plateau d'Hauteville 4,857 · 3.5 mi | 50.8 | 29% | 11% | 7% |
| Ambérieu-en-Bugey 15,934 · 8.7 mi | 37.5 | 18% | 1.4% | 13% |
| Ambronay 2,841 · 9.3 mi | 42.1 | 19% | 2.9% | 3.3% |
| Lagnieu 7,411 · 10 mi | 43.1 | 23% | 2.1% | 7.3% |
| Pont-d'Ain 2,843 · 11.3 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 4.1% | 8.7% |
| Montalieu-Vercieu 3,510 · 11.7 mi | 38.3 | 16% | 4.1% | 5% |
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 Chaley
What is the population of Chaley?
129 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (140).
How old are Chaley’s residents?
The median age is 58.5, older than 97% of compared French towns. 11% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chaley?
50, with occasional dwellings: 34% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chaley?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.3% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chaley?
€24,170 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). 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 October 30, 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.