Diou is older than 91% of compared French towns: a median age of 53.3
Single-parent households: 6.3%, below 94% of compared French towns. 43% of households are headed by a retired person. Flats are rarer here than in 90% of compared French towns. There were 630 households in Diou at the 2023 Census, home to 1,343 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 Diou
Fewer residents than in 2012
Diou had 1,495 residents at the 2012 census and 1,343 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Diou’s residents are under 53.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 120 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Diou changed by −10% from 2012 to 2023, behind 97% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Allier town −1%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was −6%; from 2017 to 2023, −4%.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 7.3% in Diou, less than in 96% 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
■ Diou 53.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, 31% of residents are 65 or over here. To put it in context, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 113 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Diou ranks below 78% of compared French towns on couples with children: 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
Households average 2 people. To put it in context, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Just over a third of households are one person living alone, a lower share than in 51% of compared French towns.
Diou: 14% of homes stand empty, above 94% 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
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 9% of households have no car in Diou. In Diou, 7% of homes are second homes. This Allier town has fewer households in social housing than 84% of compared French towns, at 5.6%. The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €24,180 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 Diou’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,180 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 69% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 97% of compared French towns: 3%
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
Compared with 14% in the typical compared French town, just over a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker here. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 9.6% in Diou, more than in 69% 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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 6.4% in Diou. 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.
Diou sits above 96% of compared French towns for married residents (52%)
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
Here 22% of residents 15 and over are single, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 97% of compared French towns: 15%
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
By its share of adults with no qualification (30%), Diou is above 91% of compared French towns.
Among 41 French towns of 1,343 to 2,582 people, the 7th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Diou is younger than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diou | 53.3 | 31% | 7% | 9.6% |
| Dompierre-sur-Besbre 2,959 · 3.1 mi | 54.3 | 34% | 4.5% | 4.6% |
| Bourbon-Lancy 4,674 · 6.5 mi | 57.2 | 39% | 14% | 4.3% |
| Digoin 7,353 · 12.4 mi | 53.9 | 34% | 1.9% | 15% |
| Gueugnon 6,528 · 15.7 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 Diou
What is the population of Diou?
1,343 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (1,495).
How old are Diou’s residents?
The median age is 53.3, older than 91% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Diou?
56, with occasional dwellings: 7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Diou?
INSEE counts 130 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 9.6% of residents, and 86 foreign nationals (6.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Diou?
€24,180 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.