A lower share of flats than 99% of compared French towns, at 1%
By its share of households in social housing (1.4%), Monestier is below 98% of compared French towns. The census found that 3.5% of households are single parents here. Few places have as many households headed by a retired person: 42% here, more than in 88% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 291 people lived here, in 140 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 Monestier
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 51 second homes and occasional dwellings in Monestier, 25% of its 200 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 92% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Monestier sits above 94% of compared French towns for second homes (25%)
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
11% of households arrived within the last two years, while 21% have stayed 30 years or more. Monestier has fewer households without a car than 54% of compared French towns, at 10%. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%. Empty homes are about as common here as in the typical compared French town: 6.3%.
Slower growth than 73% of compared French towns: Monestier changed by −1% since 2012
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, −4% to 2017 and +3% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −1% in Allier.
Older than 60% of compared French towns: half of Monestier is over 45.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Monestier 45.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 9.8% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. Here, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 117 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Above 77% of compared French towns: 42% of households are one person living alone
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
A household here holds 2.1 people on average. On average, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Lower than in 60% of compared French towns: 23% of households are couples with children.
A median of €23,660 a year per consumption unit
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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,660 a year: lower than in 75% of compared French towns.
In Monestier, 14% of households are headed by a manager or professional, more than in 72% 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
Households headed by a manual worker are rarer here than in half of compared French towns. The benchmark for households headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town: 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
3.3% of residents are immigrants, below 79% 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.
Foreign nationals: 2.3%, below 74% of compared French towns. 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.
37% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 85% 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
By its share of single residents (27%), Monestier is above 61% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Monestier ranks below 72% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 24%
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
The census found that nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in Monestier. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (291 to 2,582 people), the 21st 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as young as Monestier
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monestier | 45.5 | 22% | 25% | 3.3% |
| Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule 4,884 · 9.5 mi | 50.6 | 31% | 3.1% | 2% |
| Gannat 5,610 · 11.6 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 2.9% | 3.9% |
| Saint-Éloy-les-Mines 3,480 · 14.5 mi | 53.4 | 32% | 4.8% | 6.2% |
| Varennes-sur-Allier 3,549 · 14.7 mi | 50.6 | 30% | 0.9% | 9.6% |
| Saint-Germain-des-Fossés 3,579 · 16 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Aigueperse 2,665 · 16.6 mi | 49.3 | 29% | 1.4% | 5.6% |
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 Monestier
What is the population of Monestier?
291 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (293).
How old are Monestier’s residents?
The median age is 45.5, older than 60% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Monestier?
51, with occasional dwellings: 25% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Monestier?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.3% of residents, and 7 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Monestier?
€23,660 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.