Photo: Gadmer Frédéric · CC BY-SA 4.0A higher share of households without a car than 91% of compared French towns, at 25%
With households headed by a manager or professional at 5.1%, Chauny is behind 85% of compared French towns on that count. Across Chauny, 13% of residents are 15 to 24. Compared with other places, households in social housing are common here: 27%, more than in 89% of compared French towns. The town’s 5,700 households held 11,596 residents at the 2023 Census.
Throughout this page, the Aisne 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.
A change of −2% since 2012 leaves Chauny behind 78% 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 Aisne town −4%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought ±0%; 2017 to 2023, −2%.
23% of residents are 65 or over, a share 57% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chauny 44.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Chauny’s residents are over 44.1, older than in just over half of compared French towns. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aisne 52.5%, France 51.8%.
Chauny sits below 84% of compared French towns for couples with children (17%)
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 Aisne median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2 people in the average household. 14% of households are single parents, a higher share than in 90% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. One-person households make up 46%, against 35% in the typical compared French town.
Chauny ranks above 80% of compared French towns on empty homes: 10%
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
17% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 14% moved in within the last two years. At 37%, the share of flats is higher than in 60% of compared French towns. By way of comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. There is little gap on second homes: 1.7%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
A median standard of living of €20,410 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 €20,410 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 95% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 30.0%.
Chauny ranks above 65% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 35%
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
16% of households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a retired person come to 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
5.4% of residents are foreign nationals, a share 59% of compared French towns don’t reach
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.
Immigrants make up a share higher than in 55% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Aisne has 5.7%. The usual figure: 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 7.2% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 34%, a lower share than 92% 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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 31% of residents 15 and over are single in Chauny. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
In Chauny, 31% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 92% 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
The share of graduates of higher education is 19%, against 30% in the typical compared French town.
17th highest median age among 41 French towns of 11,392 to 11,766
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Dugny is the youngest (31.9); Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer the oldest (55.2).
3 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Chauny
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Chauny
What is the population of Chauny?
11,596 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (11,832).
How old are Chauny’s residents?
The median age is 44.1, older than 51% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chauny?
110, with occasional dwellings: 1.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chauny?
INSEE counts 830 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.2% of residents, and 630 foreign nationals (5.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chauny?
€20,410 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 30.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.