A larger share of couples with children than 99% of compared French towns: 40%
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 2.6% of households have no car in Challex. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 1,632, in 650 households. About one in five: that is how common households headed by a retired person are in Challex (22%). At 9.2%, the share of second homes is higher than in 87% of compared French towns.
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 Challex
Immigrants
INSEE counts 600 immigrants in Challex (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 34% of residents, against 8.5% for the median compared commune in Ain. 29% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
A town of families
40% of households are couples with children and 3.2% single parents with children; 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Growing fast
Challex had 1,389 residents at the 2012 census and 1,632 in 2023, up 17%: faster growth than in 87% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A growing town: +17% since 2012, faster than 87% 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 same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Ain town +13%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was +7%; from 2017 to 2023, +10%.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 8.1% in Challex, less than in 92% 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
■ Challex 41.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, against 18% in Challex. The wider picture: 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. With a median age of 41.2, Challex is younger than 72% of compared French towns.
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%.
Challex sits below 99% of compared French towns for single-parent households (3.2%)
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
Households average 2.4 people. Against that, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. At 29%, the share of one-person households is lower than in four fifths of compared French towns.
Challex sits below 82% of compared French towns for households in social housing (5.9%)
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
Long tenure is the mark of 17% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 11% (under two years). Challex has fewer flats than 59% of compared French towns, at 25%. Typically, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Empty homes make up 6.4%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €49,650 a year
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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €49,650 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 99% of compared French towns.
Challex ranks above 84% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 18%
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
The share of households headed by a manual worker trails 70% of compared French towns: 11%. The comparison figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Challex: 34% of residents are immigrants, above 99% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Challex comes in at 29%. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of single residents than 90% of compared French towns, at 20%
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, 49% are married and 4.4% in a PACS (median compared French town: 43% and 6.1%); 8.4% are widowed. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Challex ranks below 89% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 12%
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
The figure for graduates of higher education is 40% in Challex and 30% in the typical compared French town. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (1,632 to 2,582 people), the 6th youngest
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 Challex
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Challex | 41.2 | 18% | 9.2% | 34% |
| Péron 2,916 · 2.6 mi | 37.1 | 10% | 6.5% | 25% |
| Thoiry 6,569 · 3.9 mi | 39 | 13% | 6.1% | 34% |
| Valleiry 5,264 · 4.9 mi | 36.8 | 11% | 5.2% | 26% |
| Viry 5,809 · 5.2 mi | 35.9 | 12% | 6.4% | 26% |
| Saint-Genis-Pouilly 14,432 · 5.4 mi | 33.9 | 9% | 6.2% | 41% |
| Saint-Julien-en-Genevois 16,222 · 5.6 mi | 35.4 | 13% | 5.7% | 30% |
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 Challex
What is the population of Challex?
1,632 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 17% more than in 2012 (1,389).
How old are Challex’s residents?
The median age is 41.2, younger than 72% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Challex?
71, with occasional dwellings: 9.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Challex?
INSEE counts 560 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 34% of residents, and 480 foreign nationals (29%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Challex?
€49,650 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.