Gernelle sits below 99% of compared French towns for one-person households (16%)
Flats make up 2.7%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than in 95% of compared French towns: 3.6%. The 2023 Census put Gernelle’s population at 314, in 130 households. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 7.8%.
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 Gernelle
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 15% single parents with children; 17% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Gernelle had 332 residents at the 2012 census and 314 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 89% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Gernelle changed by −5% from 2012 to 2023, behind 89% 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 −6%; the six to 2023, ±0%.
Above 64% of compared French towns: 24% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Gernelle 44.7. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Gernelle is 44.7, higher than in 54% of compared French towns. For comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Ardennes 52.2%, France 51.8%.
34% of households are couples with children, a share 90% 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 Ardennes median and the France median
Living alone · share
Compared with 10% in the typical compared French town, 15% of households are single parents here. By way of comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2.4 people each.
A smaller share of households without a car than 95% of compared French towns: 3.9%
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
Empty homes: 10% here and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%. Newcomers of less than two years account for 7.7% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 31%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €28,030 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 €28,030 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 71% of compared French towns.
27% of households are headed by a retired person, below 76% 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
Census figures put households headed by a manual worker at 15% in Gernelle. 3.6% of the town’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 27% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 95% of compared French towns, at 1.6%
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 Ardennes has 6.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 95% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 1% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents make up 16% in Gernelle, less than in 99% 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
In Gernelle, 52% of residents 15 and over are married, beside 43% in the typical compared French town. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
16% of adults out of school have no qualification, below 65% of compared French towns
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
For Gernelle, the census puts graduates of higher education at 29%. Typically, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
18th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 314 to 2,582
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.
Older than Gernelle: 3 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gernelle | 44.7 | 24% | 1.3% | 1.6% |
| Vivier-au-Court 2,732 · 2.2 mi | 42.4 | 20% | 0.4% | 11% |
| Vrigne aux Bois 3,518 · 2.7 mi | 44.9 | 22% | 1.2% | 4.3% |
| Villers-Semeuse 3,615 · 3.7 mi | 49.6 | 27% | 0.5% | 5.8% |
| Charleville-Mézières 45,560 · 4.5 mi | 43.4 | 23% | 2.3% | 11% |
| Nouzonville 5,523 · 4.6 mi | 46 | 23% | 0.9% | 6.2% |
| Bogny-sur-Meuse 4,889 · 6.5 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 Gernelle
What is the population of Gernelle?
314 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (332).
How old are Gernelle’s residents?
The median age is 44.7, older than 54% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gernelle?
2, with occasional dwellings: 1.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gernelle?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.6% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gernelle?
€28,030 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 October 30, 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.