A median age of 53.2: Désertines is older than 91% of compared French towns
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 18% of households are couples with children in Désertines. Households headed by a retired person account for 43%. Compared with other places, flats are scarce here: 15%, fewer than in 78% of compared French towns. 4,259 residents in 2,140 households: that is Désertines 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 Désertines
An older town
Half of Désertines’ residents are under 53.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 330 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.
Slower growth than 67% of compared French towns: Désertines changed by +1% since 2012
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 first five years brought +4%; the six to 2023, −4%. For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Allier town −1%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 90% of compared French towns: 32%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Désertines 53.2. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.1%, Désertines is behind 92% of compared French towns on that count. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 84 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.
A larger share of one-person households than 71% of compared French towns: 41%
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 one-person households is 35%. More single-parent households than in 58% of compared French towns: 11%.
Désertines sits above 92% of compared French towns for empty homes (13%)
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
There is little gap on second homes: 1.5%, about the same as in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Households in social housing make up about one in 12 here (8.2%). On households without a car, Désertines sits higher than 51% of compared French towns: 11%.
A median of €25,050 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.
Living standards centre on €25,050 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 60% of compared French towns. 15.0% of the population lives below the poverty line.
Désertines ranks below 64% of compared French towns on households headed by a manager or professional: 7.5%
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
Here 16% of households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. By way of comparison, 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).
Désertines ranks below 73% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 2.4%
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 figure for immigrants is 5% in Désertines and 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 64% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Allier has 4.6%. Foreign nationals make up 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.
22% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 79% 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
For Désertines, the census puts married residents at 42%. The usual figure: 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 75% 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
18% of adults out of school have no qualification. By way of comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
7th highest median age among 41 French towns of 4,221 to 4,298
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 Nanteuil-le-Haudouin (37.1), the youngest, and Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (65.8), the oldest.
Older than Désertines: 4 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Désertines
What is the population of Désertines?
4,259 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (4,232).
How old are Désertines’ residents?
The median age is 53.2, older than 91% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Désertines?
38, with occasional dwellings: 1.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Désertines?
INSEE counts 210 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5% of residents, and 100 foreign nationals (2.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Désertines?
€25,050 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 15.0% 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 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.