Charmeil ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 2.5%
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 6.8% of residents are 15 to 24 in Charmeil. Households in social housing account for 3.7%. One-person households are rarer here than in 95% of compared French towns. The town’s 410 households held 947 residents at the 2023 Census.
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 Charmeil
An older town
Half of Charmeil’s residents are under 51.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Growing fast
Charmeil had 790 residents at the 2012 census and 947 in 2023, up 20%: faster growth than in 90% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Charmeil grew +20% from 2012 to 2023, ahead of 90% 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 Allier town −1%. The change was +24% from 2012 to 2017 and −4% from 2017 to 2023.
Older than 87% of compared French towns: half of Charmeil is over 51.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Charmeil 51.4. The median compared French town: 44.
30% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Charmeil sits below 73% of compared French towns for single-parent households (8.5%)
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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children in Charmeil comes in at 27%. Single-parent households make up 10% in the typical compared French town. Each household has 2.3 people on average.
Charmeil sits below 93% of compared French towns for households without a car (4.1%)
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
With empty homes at 5.5%, Charmeil is behind just over two thirds of compared French towns on that count. Lower than in two thirds of compared French towns: 1.4% of homes are second homes. On average, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €27,060 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.
Half of Charmeil’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €27,060 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 62% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person make up 39% in Charmeil, more than in 81% 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
7.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). The wider picture: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in seven: 15% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 1.7% of residents are foreign nationals in Charmeil
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.
In Charmeil, 4% of residents are immigrants, beside 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 73% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Allier has 4.6%. The comparison figure for foreign nationals is 4.3% 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.
In Charmeil, 14% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 99% 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
Married residents: 59%, above 99% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 82% of compared French towns, at 13%
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
Where 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, Charmeil has 25%. The usual figure: 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
10th highest median age among 41 French towns of 947 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
3 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Charmeil
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charmeil | 51.4 | 30% | 1.4% | 4% |
| Creuzier-le-Vieux 3,205 · 2.1 mi | 53.3 | 30% | 2.6% | 4.1% |
| Vichy 25,115 · 2.9 mi | 53.1 | 37% | 8.5% | 11% |
| Bellerive-sur-Allier 8,943 · 3.1 mi | 53 | 34% | 4.9% | 7.7% |
| Cusset 13,316 · 3.6 mi | 48.2 | 27% | 1.9% | 10% |
| Saint-Germain-des-Fossés 3,579 · 3.7 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Abrest 2,915 · 5.2 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 1.7% | 4.5% |
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 Charmeil
What is the population of Charmeil?
947 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% more than in 2012 (790).
How old are Charmeil’s residents?
The median age is 51.4, older than 87% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Charmeil?
6, with occasional dwellings: 1.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Charmeil?
INSEE counts 38 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4% of residents, and 16 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Charmeil?
€27,060 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.