Older than 95% of compared French towns: half of Channes is over 56
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Locally, half of households are headed by a retired person. At the 2023 Census, 108 people lived in Channes, in 58 households. The share of one-person households is 42%, against 35% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Aube 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 Channes
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 9 second homes and occasional dwellings in Channes, 11% of its 81 homes: higher than in 89% 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 Channes’ residents are under 56 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 36% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 13% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Channes had 118 residents at the 2012 census and 108 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 14 homes empty (17%): 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: 17%, a higher share than 98% 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
Some 5.2% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 47% who have been there 30 years or more. The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Census figures put second homes at 11% in Channes. Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Channes changed by −8% from 2012 to 2023, behind 95% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +2% in Aube. Here the change came as +4% to 2017, then −12% to 2023.
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 99% of compared French towns: 3.7%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Channes 56. The median compared French town: 44.
Against a figure of 22% in the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over in Channes comes in at 36%. Typically, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Aube 52.1%, France 51.8%.
Channes ranks above 98% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 17%
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 Aube median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 1.9 people each. Lower than in 86% of compared French towns: 17% of households are couples with children. Single-parent households make up 10% in the typical compared French town.
A typical living standard of €31,780 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.
Half of residents live in households above €31,780 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 91% of compared French towns.
In Channes, 8.3% of households are headed by a manual worker, fewer than in 86% 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. For households headed by a manual worker, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 0.9%, a lower share than 99% 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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 0.9% in Channes. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%. The median compared commune in Aube has 9.2%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 99% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Channes ranks below 66% of compared French towns on married residents: 41%
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
Put another way, about one in four: just over a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
In Channes, 13% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 99% 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
36% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 108 to 2,582 people: this is the 5th 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.
Every neighbor is younger than Channes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channes | 56 | 36% | 11% | 0.9% |
| Bar-sur-Seine 2,858 · 13.5 mi | 48.1 | 28% | 1.8% | 6.4% |
| Tonnerre 4,261 · 14 mi | 47.3 | 29% | 3.8% | 14% |
| Châtillon-sur-Seine 5,443 · 15.7 mi | 48.2 | 30% | 1.9% | 12% |
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 Channes
What is the population of Channes?
108 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (118).
How old are Channes’ residents?
The median age is 56, older than 95% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Channes?
9, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Channes?
INSEE counts 1 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 0.9% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Channes?
€31,780 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.