Half of Chantelle is over 53.1, older than 91% of compared French towns
9.7% of homes are flats (typical compared French town: 30%). For Chantelle, the census puts households in social housing at 3.2%. At 41%, the share of households headed by a retired person is higher than in 86% of compared French towns. There were 520 households locally at the 2023 Census, home to 1,131 residents.
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 Chantelle
An older town
Half of Chantelle’s residents are under 53.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 87 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, Chantelle outgrew 54% of compared French towns: +6%
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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +1%, then +5% to 2023.
7.5% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 95% 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
■ Chantelle 53.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Chantelle has 33%. Across the comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Below 87% of compared French towns: 16% of households are couples with children
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
45% of households are one person living alone (typical compared French town: 35%). In the typical compared French town, a quarter of households are couples with children. Across Chantelle, 12% of households are single parents.
A larger share of second homes than 87% of compared French towns: 9.4%
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
6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, against 13% in Chantelle. The share of second homes in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. Households without a car: 10% of the total.
€25,130 a year: the median standard of living
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.
Half of Chantelle’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,130 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 59% of compared French towns.
Above 75% of compared French towns: 18% of households are headed by a manual worker
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 manager or professional stands at 8.6%. Measured more widely, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Chantelle, 2.7% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 85% 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.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1.8% of residents are foreign nationals in Chantelle. The wider picture: 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer married residents than 76% of compared French towns: 39%
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
Single residents make up about one in four here (26%). Typically, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
More adults with no qualification than 81% of compared French towns: 26%
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 the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education is 30%; Chantelle has 23%. For comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 7th oldest of 41 French towns of 1,131 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Chantelle is younger than 1 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chantelle | 53.1 | 33% | 9.4% | 2.7% |
| Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule 4,884 · 8.2 mi | 50.6 | 31% | 3.1% | 2% |
| Gannat 5,610 · 9.9 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 2.9% | 3.9% |
| Varennes-sur-Allier 3,549 · 13.1 mi | 50.6 | 30% | 0.9% | 9.6% |
| Saint-Germain-des-Fossés 3,579 · 13.7 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Creuzier-le-Vieux 3,205 · 14.5 mi | 53.3 | 30% | 2.6% | 4.1% |
| Bellerive-sur-Allier 8,943 · 14.6 mi | 53 | 34% | 4.9% | 7.7% |
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 Chantelle
What is the population of Chantelle?
1,131 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (1,069).
How old are Chantelle’s residents?
The median age is 53.1, older than 91% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chantelle?
63, with occasional dwellings: 9.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chantelle?
INSEE counts 30 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.7% of residents, and 20 foreign nationals (1.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chantelle?
€25,130 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.