Older than 98% of compared French towns: half of Ainay-le-Château is over 59.3
The share of households headed by a retired person is 46%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. The 2023 Census counted 989 residents in 490 households. 6.5% of households rent social housing (HLM), or about one in 15. Ainay-le-Château has fewer couples with children than 87% of compared French towns, at 16%.
Throughout this page, the Allier 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 Ainay-le-Château
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 87 second homes and occasional dwellings in Ainay-le-Château, 12% of its 730 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 97% 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 Ainay-le-Château’s residents are under 59.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 41% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 160 homes empty (21%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Ainay-le-Château’s households are one person: higher than in 93% of compared French towns; 34% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Ainay-le-Château, 21% of homes stand empty, more than in 99% 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
Some 8.6% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 22% who have been there 30 years or more. For empty homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. Second homes come to 12% in Ainay-le-Château, about one in ten. Flats are rarer here than in 92% of compared French towns.
−3% since 2012: slower than 82% 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 Allier town −1%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 98% of compared French towns: 41%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Ainay-le-Château 59.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 6.4% of residents are 15 to 24 here. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Above 93% of compared French towns: 50% of households are one person living alone
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 Allier median and the France median
Living alone · share
6.1% of households are single parents (typical compared French town: 10%). By way of comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. A household here holds 1.9 people on average.
At the median, €23,620 a year to live on
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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,620 a year: lower than in 76% of compared French towns.
4.1% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 92% of compared French towns
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
13% of households are headed by a manual worker, or about one in eight. Set beside that, 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).
3.1% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 81% 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 Ainay-le-Château comes in at 1.7%. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants. The median compared commune in Allier has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in just over four fifths 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.
Married residents: 38%, a lower share than 81% 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
The share of single residents is 28%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education make up 18% in Ainay-le-Château, less than in 91% 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
In Ainay-le-Château, 29% of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 4th oldest of 41 French towns of 989 to 2,582 people
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 Ainay-le-Château
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ainay-le-Château | 59.3 | 41% | 12% | 3.1% |
| Saint-Amand-Montrond 9,899 · 9 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 3.9% | 4.5% |
| Sancoins 2,951 · 13.4 mi | 57.4 | 36% | 5.9% | 2% |
| Dun-sur-Auron 3,524 · 13.4 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 3.2% | 2.4% |
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 Ainay-le-Château
What is the population of Ainay-le-Château?
989 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (1,021).
How old are Ainay-le-Château’s residents?
The median age is 59.3, older than 98% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 41% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ainay-le-Château?
87, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ainay-le-Château?
INSEE counts 31 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.1% of residents, and 17 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ainay-le-Château?
€23,620 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 9, 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.