Marcillat-en-Combraille sits below 99% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (1.1%)
The share of households in social housing is 5.5%, against 12% in the typical compared French town. At the 2023 Census, 900 people lived in Marcillat-en-Combraille, in 440 households. Census figures put single-parent households at 5.6% here. Compared with other places, flats are scarce here: 8.7%, fewer than in 89% of compared French towns.
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 Marcillat-en-Combraille
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 110 second homes and occasional dwellings in Marcillat-en-Combraille, 16% of its 660 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 110 homes empty (17%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Marcillat-en-Combraille’s residents are under 52 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 28% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Marcillat-en-Combraille: 17% of homes stand empty, above 97% 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
In the typical compared French town, 2.1% of homes are second homes; in Marcillat-en-Combraille, 16%. Measured more widely, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. The census found that 15% of households have no car here.
From 2012 to 2023, 68% of compared French towns grew faster than Marcillat-en-Combraille: ±0%
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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −1% in Allier.
A median age of 52: Marcillat-en-Combraille is older than 89% 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
■ Marcillat-en-Combraille 52. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 65 and over at 28%, Marcillat-en-Combraille is ahead of 82% of compared French towns on that count. Residents aged 15 to 24 make up about one in ten here (9.8%).
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
Couples with children make up 17% in Marcillat-en-Combraille, less than in 85% 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 2 people on average. 45% of households are one person living alone, more than in 83% of compared French towns. Couples with children: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €25,220 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 midpoint of living standards here is €25,220 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 58% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 91% of compared French towns: 43%
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
Households headed by a manual worker: 15% of the total. 1.1% of Marcillat-en-Combraille’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 43% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 78% of compared French towns: 3.4%
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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 2.6% of residents are foreign nationals here. As a yardstick, 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.
Fewer single residents than 79% of compared French towns: 22%
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
Set against 43% in the typical compared French town, 46% of residents 15 and over are married in Marcillat-en-Combraille. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
24% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, below 72% 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. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
9th highest median age among 41 French towns of 900 to 2,582
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.
Marcillat-en-Combraille is younger than 5 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcillat-en-Combraille | 52 | 28% | 16% | 3.4% |
| Saint-Éloy-les-Mines 3,480 · 9.5 mi | 53.4 | 32% | 4.8% | 6.2% |
| Commentry 6,017 · 9.7 mi | 53.8 | 33% | 2.4% | 4.6% |
| Prémilhat 2,540 · 11.4 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 2.3% | 5.9% |
| Montluçon 33,147 · 12.1 mi | 46.9 | 28% | 3.1% | 11% |
| Désertines 4,259 · 13.1 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 1.5% | 5% |
| Domérat 8,622 · 14 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 Marcillat-en-Combraille
What is the population of Marcillat-en-Combraille?
900 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (897).
How old are Marcillat-en-Combraille’s residents?
The median age is 52, older than 89% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Marcillat-en-Combraille?
110, with occasional dwellings: 16% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Marcillat-en-Combraille?
INSEE counts 31 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.4% of residents, and 24 foreign nationals (2.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Marcillat-en-Combraille?
€25,220 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 9, 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.