Below 99% of compared French towns: 3% of households have no car
Against a figure of 32% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person in Chanay comes in at 19%. Census figures put single-parent households at 6.4% here. Half of the town’s residents are under 40.3, younger than in 78% of compared French towns. This Ain town counted 574 residents and 230 households at the 2023 Census.
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 Chanay
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 32 second homes and occasional dwellings in Chanay, 11% of its 290 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 88% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Chanay had 636 residents at the 2012 census and 574 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More second homes than 89% of compared French towns: 11%
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
In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats; in Chanay, 21%. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%. Across Chanay, 6.4% of households rent social housing (HLM). At 8.9%, the share of empty homes is higher than in 72% of compared French towns.
Chanay changed by −10% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 97% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +13% in Ain. Here the change came as −2% to 2017, then −8% to 2023.
Below 85% of compared French towns: 17% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chanay 40.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24, against 11% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over 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%.
A larger share of couples with children than 83% of compared French towns: 32%
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 average household has 2.3 people. Few places have so few one-person households: 34% here, fewer than in 56% of compared French towns. The share of couples with children in the typical compared French town is 25%.
A median standard of living of €31,350 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 €31,350 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 89% of compared French towns.
Below 91% of compared French towns: 4.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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
Here, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker. Measured more widely, 9.4% of 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).
Chanay sits above 57% of compared French towns for immigrants (7.5%)
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.
Compared with other places, foreign nationals are common here: 5.1%, more than in 57% of compared French towns. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 66% of compared French towns: 45%
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
At 25%, the share of single residents is higher than in just over half of compared French towns. To put it in context, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
14% of adults out of school have no qualification, below 78% 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
Graduates of higher education come to 31% in Chanay, about three in ten. Against that, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (574 to 2,582 people), the 4th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Chanay sits below 3 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chanay | 40.3 | 17% | 11% | 7.5% |
| Valserhône 16,712 · 7.5 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 2.9% | 21% |
| Plateau d'Hauteville 4,857 · 9.1 mi | 50.8 | 29% | 11% | 7% |
| Vallières-sur-Fier 2,860 · 9.9 mi | 39.4 | 15% | 2.9% | 3.4% |
| Culoz-Béon 3,453 · 10.7 mi | 43.5 | 23% | 6.2% | 15% |
| Valleiry 5,264 · 11.4 mi | 36.8 | 11% | 5.2% | 26% |
| La Balme-de-Sillingy 5,336 · 12.3 mi | 39.8 | 17% | 1.4% | 6.4% |
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 Chanay
What is the population of Chanay?
574 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (636).
How old are Chanay’s residents?
The median age is 40.3, younger than 78% of compared French towns. 30% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chanay?
32, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chanay?
INSEE counts 43 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.5% of residents, and 29 foreign nationals (5.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chanay?
€31,350 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 November 4, 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.