Below 99% of compared French towns: 2.1% of homes are flats
Set against 14% in the typical compared French town, 34% of households are headed by a manual worker in Coulanges. 7.8% of its homes are second homes; 4.1% of residents are immigrants. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in 92% of compared French towns. This Allier town had 285 residents in 150 households 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 Coulanges
Fewer residents than in 2012
Coulanges had 315 residents at the 2012 census and 285 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Coulanges’ residents are under 51.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 25% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 29 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.
Since 2012, Coulanges has changed by −10%, 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 population moved +12%, and from 2017 to 2023 −19%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Allier town −1%.
Older than 88% of compared French towns: half of Coulanges is over 51.7
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Coulanges 51.7. The median compared French town: 44.
25% of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 79 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Fewer couples with children than 79% of compared French towns: 19%
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
A household here holds 1.9 people on average. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. One-person households: 41% here and 35% in the typical compared French town.
Empty homes: 15%, a higher share than 95% 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
The figure for households in social housing is 8% in Coulanges and 12% in the typical compared French town. At 6.5%, the share of households without a car is lower than in 77% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. 26% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 10% moved in within the last two years.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €23,510 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 residents live in households above €23,510 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 77% of compared French towns.
3.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional, below 96% 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
In Coulanges, 28% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. Against 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).
Immigrants make up 4.1% in Coulanges, less than in 73% 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.
The census found that 4% of residents are foreign nationals in Coulanges. To put it in context, 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.
Coulanges sits below 95% of compared French towns for single residents (19%)
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
By its share of married residents (50%), Coulanges is above 91% of compared French towns. On average, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Coulanges ranks below 99% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 9.3%
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
Set against 19% in the typical compared French town, 28% of adults out of school have no qualification in Coulanges. The usual figure: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 285 to 2,582 people: this is the 10th oldest
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.
Every neighbor is older than Coulanges
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coulanges | 51.7 | 25% | 7.8% | 4.1% |
| Digoin 7,353 · 6.7 mi | 53.9 | 34% | 1.9% | 15% |
| Dompierre-sur-Besbre 2,959 · 8.9 mi | 54.3 | 34% | 4.5% | 4.6% |
| Bourbon-Lancy 4,674 · 10.8 mi | 57.2 | 39% | 14% | 4.3% |
| Paray-le-Monial 9,291 · 12.4 mi | 54.2 | 36% | 3.4% | 7.2% |
| Gueugnon 6,528 · 12.6 mi | 58 | 38% | 1.8% | 8.6% |
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 Coulanges
What is the population of Coulanges?
285 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (315).
How old are Coulanges’ residents?
The median age is 51.7, older than 88% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Coulanges?
15, with occasional dwellings: 7.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Coulanges?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.1% of residents, and 11 foreign nationals (4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Coulanges?
€23,510 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.