More households in social housing than 89% of compared French towns: 27%
The median age in Donchery is 49, higher than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns. Put another way, about one in 15: 6.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional. 1,989 residents in 910 households: that is Donchery at the 2023 Census. Couples with children: 22%, below 63% of compared French towns.
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 Donchery
Fewer residents than in 2012
Donchery had 2,286 residents at the 2012 census and 1,989 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−13% since 2012: slower than 99% 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
The first five years brought −9%; the six to 2023, −5%.
Donchery: 25% of residents are 65 or over, above 69% 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
■ Donchery 49. The median compared French town: 44.
10% of residents are 15 to 24; in the typical compared French town the figure is 11%. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
A larger share of single-parent households than 84% of compared French towns: 13%
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
The average household has 2.1 people. Few places have so few one-person households: 35% here, fewer than in half of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, single-parent households come to 10%.
1% of homes are second homes, below 80% 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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 27% of homes are flats in Donchery. For comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. 7.5% of homes stand empty. At 9.8%, the share of households without a car is lower than in 55% of compared French towns.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €23,350 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,350 a year: lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
19% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 80% 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
In Donchery, 31% of households are headed by a retired person. Across the 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).
Donchery sits below 94% of compared French towns for immigrants (1.8%)
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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 1.3% of residents are foreign nationals here. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer married residents than 51% of compared French towns: 43%
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
Single residents account for 25%.
Donchery ranks below 87% of compared French towns on 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
27% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
41 French towns of 1,989 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).
1 in 6 nearby towns have a higher median age than Donchery
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donchery | 49 | 25% | 1% | 1.8% |
| Sedan 16,667 · 2.9 mi | 45 | 24% | 1.3% | 8% |
| Vrigne aux Bois 3,518 · 2.9 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Vivier-au-Court 2,732 · 3.4 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 0.4% | 11% |
| Villers-Semeuse 3,615 · 6.6 mi | 49.6 | 27% | 0.5% | 5.8% |
| Charleville-Mézières 45,560 · 8.4 mi | 43.4 | 23% | 2.3% | 11% |
| Nouzonville 5,523 · 10 mi | 46 | 23% | 0.9% | 6.2% |
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 Donchery
What is the population of Donchery?
1,989 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (2,286).
How old are Donchery’s residents?
The median age is 49, older than 79% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Donchery?
10, with occasional dwellings: 1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Donchery?
INSEE counts 35 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.8% of residents, and 25 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Donchery?
€23,350 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.