4.6% of homes are flats, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns
The figure for one-person households is 24% in Marchais and 35% in the typical compared French town. At 32%, the share of households headed by a manual worker is higher than in 99% of compared French towns. This Aisne town is home to 389 residents in 170 households, by the 2023 Census. The census found that 4.9% of households rent social housing (HLM) here.
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.
What stands out about the people of Marchais
Empty homes
The census found 31 homes empty (15%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +3% change since 2012: slower than 58% 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
The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Aisne town −4%. The change was +15% from 2012 to 2017 and −11% from 2017 to 2023.
In Marchais, 20% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 67% 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
■ Marchais 44. The median compared French town: 44.
One in ten residents are 15 to 24 (typical compared French town: 11%). What’s more, the median age in Marchais is 44, lower than in half of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Aisne 52.5%, France 51.8%.
More couples with children than 87% of compared French towns: 33%
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
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The usual figure: a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. A household here holds 2.4 people on average.
Marchais: 15% of homes stand empty, above 96% of compared French towns
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
Car-free households: one in 11, where the median compared French town has 11%. 9% of households have no car, fewer than in 60% of compared French towns. Against that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. In the last two years, one in ten households moved in; at the other end, 27% have stayed 30 years or more.
The median resident lives on €22,860 a year per consumption unit
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.
At €22,860 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 83% of compared French towns.
Only 30% of households are headed by a retired person in Marchais
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
9.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
0% of residents in Marchais are immigrants
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer single residents than 98% of compared French towns: 18%
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
Married residents: 47%, above four fifths of compared French towns. Elsewhere, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 95% of compared French towns: 16%
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
Here 29% of adults out of school have no qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 19%. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
16th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 389 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
A younger town than 1 of the 4 around it: Marchais
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marchais | 44 | 20% | 2.6% | 0% |
| Athies-sous-Laon 2,578 · 6.1 mi | 44.9 | 23% | 0.7% | 2% |
| Laon 24,220 · 8.7 mi | 40.8 | 21% | 1.8% | 9.4% |
| Villeneuve-sur-Aisne 2,792 · 12.4 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 1.3% | 2.4% |
| Vervins 2,549 · 17.6 mi | 42.2 | 23% | 2.2% | 4.2% |
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 Marchais
What is the population of Marchais?
389 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (378).
How old are Marchais’ residents?
The median age is 44, younger than 50% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Marchais?
5, with occasional dwellings: 2.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Marchais?
INSEE counts 0 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0% of residents, and 0 foreign nationals (0%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Marchais?
€22,860 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.