A median age of 53.8: Commentry is older than 92% of compared French towns
The figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 2.4% in Commentry and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. This Allier town counted 6,017 residents and 3,170 households at the 2023 Census. On the census count, 15% of households are couples with children. More households in social housing than in 84% of compared French towns: 23%.
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 Commentry
Fewer residents than in 2012
Commentry had 6,592 residents at the 2012 census and 6,017 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Commentry’s residents are under 53.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 750 homes empty (19%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
47% of Commentry’s households are one person: higher than in 88% of compared French towns; 37% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A −9% change since 2012: slower than 96% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was −5%; from 2017 to 2023, −4%.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 33% in Commentry, more than in 92% 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
■ Commentry 53.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Where 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Commentry has 8.7%. Elsewhere, 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: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
47% of households are one person living alone, more than in 88% of compared French towns
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
Households here average 1.9 people each. Nearly one in ten households are single parents, a lower share than in 69% of compared French towns. The share of one-person households in the typical compared French town is 35%.
A higher share of empty homes than 99% of compared French towns, at 19%
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
Turnover: 10% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 26% have lived in their home 30 years or more. The benchmark for empty homes in the typical compared French town: 6.7%. More households without a car than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns: 18%. With flats at 34%, Commentry is ahead of 57% of compared French towns on that count.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €22,570 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.
Half of Commentry’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €22,570 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 85% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 21.0% of residents.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 93% of compared French towns: 45%
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
Households headed by a manual worker make up 17%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. For households headed by a retired person, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 68% of compared French towns: 4.6%
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 the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; Commentry has 2.6%. On average, 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.
41% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 62% 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 census found that 26% of residents 15 and over are single in Commentry. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Commentry sits below 99% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (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
27% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 3rd oldest of 41 French towns of 5,952 to 6,082 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 La Verrière (35.4), the oldest Vaison-la-Romaine (56.6).
Every neighbor is younger than Commentry
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commentry | 53.8 | 33% | 2.4% | 4.6% |
| Désertines 4,259 · 7.5 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 1.5% | 5% |
| Montluçon 33,147 · 7.9 mi | 46.9 | 28% | 3.1% | 11% |
| Prémilhat 2,540 · 9.3 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 2.3% | 5.9% |
| Saint-Éloy-les-Mines 3,480 · 9.5 mi | 53.4 | 32% | 4.8% | 6.2% |
| Domérat 8,622 · 10.7 mi | 53.5 | 33% | 1.6% | 4.4% |
| Huriel 2,536 · 13.5 mi | 48.5 | 27% | 4% | 2.5% |
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 Commentry
What is the population of Commentry?
6,017 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (6,592).
How old are Commentry’s residents?
The median age is 53.8, older than 92% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Commentry?
97, with occasional dwellings: 2.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Commentry?
INSEE counts 270 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.6% of residents, and 150 foreign nationals (2.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Commentry?
€22,570 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.0% 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 October 30, 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.