In Vichy, 7.7% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
In Vichy, 32% of households have no car, beside 11% in the typical compared French town. The town had 25,115 residents in 15,650 households at the 2023 census. Flats come to 79% here, about eight in ten. More households headed by a retired person than in 92% of compared French towns: 44%.
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 Vichy
Many people living alone
61% of Vichy’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 47% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 4,840 homes empty (22%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Vichy’s residents are under 53.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 37% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 14% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Vichy changed by −1% from 2012 to 2023, behind 73% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and −1% for the median Allier town, the change came in two steps: −5% from 2012 to 2017, then +4% to 2023.
Vichy is older than 91% of compared French towns: a median age of 53.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vichy 53.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 13% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are common here: 37%, more than in 96% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
57% women, 43% men
About 77 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.
61% of households are one person living alone, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Against a figure of 10% in the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households in Vichy comes in at 7.8%. In the typical compared French town, 35% of households are one person living alone. There are 1.6 people in the average household.
22% of homes stand empty, more than in 99% 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
Car-free households: one in three, where the median compared French town has 11%. Empty homes make up 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Here, 8.5% of homes are second homes. 9.3% of households rent social housing (HLM), a lower share than in 64% of compared French towns.
Standard of living at the median: €23,100 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.
At €23,100 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 81% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 23.2% of residents.
Only 9.3% of households are headed by a manual worker in Vichy
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
By its share of households headed by a manager or professional (6.6%), Vichy is below 71% of compared French towns. Households headed by a manual worker make up 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 11% in Vichy, more than in 75% 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.
The median compared commune in Allier has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in three quarters of compared French towns. Here, nearly one in ten residents are foreign nationals. Against that, 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.
A smaller share of married residents than 97% of compared French towns: 30%
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
The figure for single residents is 33% in Vichy and 25% in the typical compared French town. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
A larger share of adults with no qualification than 66% of compared French towns: 22%
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
Roughly three in ten: 31% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 2nd 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.
The youngest is Les Pavillons-sous-Bois (35), the oldest Biarritz (55.2).
1 of 6 neighbors are older than Vichy
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vichy | 53.1 | 37% | 8.5% | 11% |
| Cusset 13,316 · 1.4 mi | 48.2 | 27% | 1.9% | 10% |
| Bellerive-sur-Allier 8,943 · 1.4 mi | 53 | 34% | 4.9% | 7.7% |
| Creuzier-le-Vieux 3,205 · 2.1 mi | 53.3 | 30% | 2.6% | 4.1% |
| Abrest 2,915 · 2.4 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 1.7% | 4.5% |
| Saint-Yorre 2,641 · 4.6 mi | 49 | 27% | 1.2% | 3.4% |
| Saint-Germain-des-Fossés 3,579 · 5.2 mi | 45.9 | 25% | 3% | 4.3% |
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 Vichy
What is the population of Vichy?
25,115 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (25,315).
How old are Vichy’s residents?
The median age is 53.1, older than 91% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 37% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vichy?
1,910, with occasional dwellings: 8.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vichy?
INSEE counts 2,760 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 2,240 foreign nationals (8.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vichy?
€23,100 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 23.2% 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.