A median age of 55.4: La Celle is older than 94% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 398 people lived in La Celle, in 200 households. Here, 0.4% of homes are flats. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%; La Celle has 48%.
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 La Celle
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 35 second homes and occasional dwellings in La Celle, 13% of its 270 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of La Celle’s residents are under 55.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
La Celle had 422 residents at the 2012 census and 398 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 90% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 36 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.
Second homes: 13%, a higher share than 90% 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
Where 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, La Celle has 13%. As a yardstick, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. 6.5% of households have no car, or about one in 15.
From 2012 to 2023, 90% of compared French towns grew faster than La Celle: −6%
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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and −1% for the median Allier town, the change came in two steps: −2% from 2012 to 2017, then −4% to 2023.
In La Celle, 5.5% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% 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
■ La Celle 55.4. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over tops 91% of compared French towns: 33%. As a reference point, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households make up 5% in La Celle, less than in 99% 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
The average household has 2 people. Compared with other places, couples with children are scarce here: 18%, fewer than in 83% of compared French towns. For single-parent households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 10%. One-person households make up 35%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €24,010 a year in standard of living
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.
At €24,010 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 71% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manual worker than 77% of compared French towns, at 10%
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
9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, against 7.5% in La Celle. The wider picture: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
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: 4.5%
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.
On the census count, 3.8% of residents are foreign nationals. As a reference point, 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.
54% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 98% 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
With single residents at 18%, La Celle is behind 98% of compared French towns on that count. The usual figure: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
La Celle ranks below 84% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 21%
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, or about one in six. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 398 to 2,582 people: this is the 5th 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.
La Celle is older 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Celle | 55.4 | 33% | 13% | 4.5% |
| Commentry 6,017 · 3.9 mi | 53.8 | 33% | 2.4% | 4.6% |
| Saint-Éloy-les-Mines 3,480 · 5.7 mi | 53.4 | 32% | 4.8% | 6.2% |
| Désertines 4,259 · 11 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 1.5% | 5% |
| Montluçon 33,147 · 11 mi | 46.9 | 28% | 3.1% | 11% |
| Prémilhat 2,540 · 12 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 2.3% | 5.9% |
| Domérat 8,622 · 13.8 mi | 53.5 | 33% | 1.6% | 4.4% |
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 La Celle
What is the population of La Celle?
398 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (422).
How old are La Celle’s residents?
The median age is 55.4, older than 94% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in La Celle?
35, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in La Celle?
INSEE counts 18 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.5% of residents, and 15 foreign nationals (3.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in La Celle?
€24,010 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.