Charnois: 50% of households are couples with children, above 99% of compared French towns
Half of Charnois’s residents are over 50.2, older than in 84% of compared French towns. Second homes: 8.5% of the total. Census day 2023: 72 residents and 29 households locally. In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%; Charnois has 10%.
Throughout this page, the Ardennes 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 Charnois
A town of families
50% of households are couples with children and 0% single parents with children; 15% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Charnois had 87 residents at the 2012 census and 72 in 2023, down 17%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 99% of compared French towns grew faster than Charnois: −17%
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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Ardennes town −9%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought −11%; 2017 to 2023, −6%.
Charnois ranks above 81% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 28%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Charnois 50.2. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%; Charnois has 8.5%. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 78 women for every 100 men. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Only 33% of households are one person living alone in Charnois
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 Ardennes median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Households here average 2.5 people each. Measured more widely, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Empty homes make up 8.5% in Charnois, more than in 68% 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 wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. One household in 10 has no car (median compared French town: 11%).
Households headed by a retired person make up 50% in Charnois, more than in 97% 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 manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The share of households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 11%, a higher share than 76% 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.
Where 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, Charnois has 8.5%. 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 higher share of single residents than 96% of compared French towns, at 38%
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
Roughly four in ten: just over two in five residents 15 and over are married. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Charnois sits below 82% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (21%)
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
Where 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Charnois has 25%. By way of comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 72 to 2,582 people, the 14th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Nearby, 1 of 4 towns have older populations than Charnois
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charnois | 50.2 | 28% | 8.5% | 11% |
| Givet 6,364 · 2.1 mi | 43 | 21% | 5% | 18% |
| Fumay 3,086 · 10.1 mi | 52.3 | 29% | 4.2% | 15% |
| Revin 5,716 · 14.5 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 3% | 12% |
| Bogny-sur-Meuse 4,889 · 17.8 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 1.5% | 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 Charnois
What is the population of Charnois?
72 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 17% fewer than in 2012 (87).
How old are Charnois’ residents?
The median age is 50.2, older than 84% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Charnois?
3, with occasional dwellings: 8.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Charnois?
INSEE counts 8 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (8.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
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.