Photo: Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0Half of Lapalisse is over 54.7, older than 94% of compared French towns
Compared with 32% in the typical compared French town, two in five households are headed by a retired person here. Census figures put couples with children at 15% in Lapalisse. Few places have so few households in social housing: 7.2% here, fewer than in 75% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 3,138 residents here, living in 1,510 households.
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 Lapalisse
An older town
Half of Lapalisse’s residents are under 54.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 36% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 260 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.
Lapalisse’s population moved +1% on 2012, less than in 68% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved ±0%, then ±0% to 2023.
Lapalisse ranks above 95% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 36%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Lapalisse 54.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Lapalisse comes in at 8.7%. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 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.
One-person households: 43%, a higher share than 79% 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
Each household has 1.9 people on average. Higher than in 68% of compared French towns: 11% of households are single parents. Against that, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
In Lapalisse, 14% of homes stand empty, more than in 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
Of all households, 13% moved in during the last two years and 21% have stayed three decades or more. More households without a car than in 69% of compared French towns: 15%. In the typical compared French town, empty homes come to 6.7%. Without a car: one household in seven, against 11% in the median compared French town.
Standard of living at the median: €22,960 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.
The median standard of living in Lapalisse is €22,960 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 82% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 17.0%.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 5.3%, a lower share than 83% 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
14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, against 21% in Lapalisse. On average, 9.4% of 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).
4.5% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 68% 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.
Here, 3.7% of residents are foreign nationals. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 37% in Lapalisse, less than in 83% 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
Nearly a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Lapalisse sits below 98% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (14%)
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
Adults with no qualification: 31%, above 93% of compared French towns. Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 7th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 33.7 in Longperrier to 64.6 in La Tranche-sur-Mer.
No nearby town is as old as Lapalisse
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lapalisse | 54.7 | 36% | 3% | 4.5% |
| Saint-Germain-des-Fossés 3,579 · 10 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Creuzier-le-Vieux 3,205 · 11.6 mi | 53.3 | 30% | 2.6% | 4.1% |
| Cusset 13,316 · 11.8 mi | 48.2 | 27% | 1.9% | 10% |
| Varennes-sur-Allier 3,549 · 11.8 mi | 50.6 | 30% | 0.9% | 9.6% |
| Vichy 25,115 · 13.1 mi | 53.1 | 37% | 8.5% | 11% |
| Abrest 2,915 · 13.9 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 1.7% | 4.5% |
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 Lapalisse
What is the population of Lapalisse?
3,138 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (3,122).
How old are Lapalisse’s residents?
The median age is 54.7, older than 94% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Lapalisse?
54, with occasional dwellings: 3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Lapalisse?
INSEE counts 140 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.5% of residents, and 120 foreign nationals (3.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Lapalisse?
€22,960 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 17.0% 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.