Fewer flats than 99% of compared French towns: 0.6%
Where just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, Mercy has 5.7%. In 2023, the Census found 244 residents in the town, living in 110 households. Households without a car make up about one in 22 here (4.5%). Compared with other places, households headed by a retired person are common here: 41%, more than in 86% 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 Mercy
One home in 10 is a second home
The census counted 16 second homes and occasional dwellings in Mercy, 10% of its 160 homes: higher than in 88% of compared French towns. 94% 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 31 homes empty (19%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Mercy had 257 residents at the 2012 census and 244 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 88% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More empty homes than 99% of compared French towns: 19%
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
Second homes make up 10%, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Newcomers of less than two years account for nearly one in ten households, residents of 30 years or more for 34%.
−5% since 2012, a pace below 88% 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
In two steps, +2% to 2017 and −7% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −1% in Allier.
Older than 74% of compared French towns: half of Mercy is over 48
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Mercy 48. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (24%), Mercy is above 62% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 115 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Mercy ranks below 66% of compared French towns on one-person households: 32%
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 2.2 people on average. Mercy has fewer couples with children than 63% of compared French towns, at 22%. As a reference point, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 9.1%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €23,770 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 Mercy’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €23,770 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 74% of compared French towns.
Only 4.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Mercy
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 18% of households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manager or professional come to 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 87% of compared French towns: 2.5% of residents are immigrants
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.
Foreign nationals make up 1.2%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The share of immigrants 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.
A smaller share of single residents than 91% of compared French towns: 20%
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
47% of residents 15 and over are married, against 43% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Mercy sits below 86% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (20%)
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: 24% here and 19% in the typical compared French town. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 244 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th 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).
Older than Mercy: 5 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy | 48 | 24% | 10% | 2.5% |
| Dompierre-sur-Besbre 2,959 · 8.4 mi | 54.3 | 34% | 4.5% | 4.6% |
| Yzeure 12,897 · 10.9 mi | 49.8 | 27% | 2.4% | 6.4% |
| Varennes-sur-Allier 3,549 · 11.5 mi | 50.6 | 30% | 0.9% | 9.6% |
| Moulins 19,206 · 11.8 mi | 43.9 | 25% | 4.3% | 9.9% |
| Avermes 4,074 · 13.7 mi | 51.3 | 30% | 1.4% | 5.2% |
| Lapalisse 3,138 · 15 mi | 54.7 | 36% | 3% | 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 Mercy
What is the population of Mercy?
244 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (257).
How old are Mercy’s residents?
The median age is 48, older than 74% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Mercy?
16, with occasional dwellings: 10% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Mercy?
INSEE counts 6 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.5% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Mercy?
€23,770 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.