A smaller share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns: 2.1%
Set against 10% in the typical compared French town, 3.5% of households are single parents in Sorbier. Its 150 households held 318 residents at the 2023 Census. About one in 29: that is how common flats are in Sorbier (3.4%). Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 96% 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 Sorbier
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 26 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sorbier, 13% of its 200 homes: higher than in 90% 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Sorbier’s residents are under 51.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 28% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 6.9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 30 homes empty (15%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Empty homes make up 15% in Sorbier, more than in 95% 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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Across Sorbier, 13% of homes are second homes. Some 6.9% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 22% who have been there 30 years or more.
Sorbier grew +8% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 64% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Allier town −1%.
A median age of 51.5: Sorbier is older than 88% 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
■ Sorbier 51.5. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 7.8%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Sorbier has more residents aged 65 and over than nearly four fifths of compared French towns, at 28%.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 106 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Allier 52.6%, France 51.8%.
Fewer one-person households than 57% of compared French towns: 34%
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 2.2 people. Against that, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. A quarter of households are couples with children, fewer than in 51% of compared French towns.
Standard of living at the median: €22,000 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.
Living standards centre on €22,000 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 88% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a manual worker than 99% of compared French towns, at 38%
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
The share of households headed by a retired person is 34%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. For comparison, 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).
Below 62% of compared French towns: 5.1% 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: 4.8% of the total. 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.
More married residents than 98% of compared French towns: 54%
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
A quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 21% in Sorbier. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
Sorbier sits below 88% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (19%)
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
By its share of adults with no qualification (21%), Sorbier is above 58% of compared French towns. For comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 318 to 2,582 people, the 10th 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).
A younger town than 3 of the 6 around it: Sorbier
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sorbier | 51.5 | 28% | 13% | 5.1% |
| Lapalisse 3,138 · 7.7 mi | 54.7 | 36% | 3% | 4.5% |
| Dompierre-sur-Besbre 2,959 · 11 mi | 54.3 | 34% | 4.5% | 4.6% |
| Varennes-sur-Allier 3,549 · 12.6 mi | 50.6 | 30% | 0.9% | 9.6% |
| Saint-Germain-des-Fossés 3,579 · 15.3 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 3% | 4.3% |
| Creuzier-le-Vieux 3,205 · 17.8 mi | 53.3 | 30% | 2.6% | 4.1% |
| Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule 4,884 · 17.9 mi | 50.6 | 31% | 3.1% | 2% |
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 Sorbier
What is the population of Sorbier?
318 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% more than in 2012 (294).
How old are Sorbier’s residents?
The median age is 51.5, older than 88% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sorbier?
26, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sorbier?
INSEE counts 16 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.1% of residents, and 15 foreign nationals (4.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sorbier?
€22,000 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.