Half of Paillé is over 54.9, older than 94% of compared French towns
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Paillé’s 170 households held 326 residents at the 2023 Census. Couples with children come to 12% locally, about one in ten. With households headed by a retired person at 40%, Paillé is ahead of 83% of compared French towns on that count.
Throughout this page, the Charente-Maritime 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 Paillé
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 32 second homes and occasional dwellings in Paillé, 14% of its 220 homes: higher than in 91% 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 Paillé’s residents are under 54.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Paillé had 347 residents at the 2012 census and 326 in 2023, down 6%: slower growth than in 91% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Paillé ranks above 91% of compared French towns on second homes: 14%
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
The share of empty homes tops just over four fifths of compared French towns: 10%. Newcomers of less than two years account for just over one in ten households, residents of 30 years or more for 29%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Since 2012, Paillé has changed by −6%, slower than 91% 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Charente-Maritime town +8%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought −9%; 2017 to 2023, +3%.
In Paillé, 7.3% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 96% 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
■ Paillé 54.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 22% in the typical compared French town, 31% of residents are 65 or over in Paillé. Across the comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Charente-Maritime 53.1%, France 51.8%.
A higher share of one-person households than 80% of compared French towns, at 43%
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 Charente-Maritime median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households: 12%, above three quarters of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, just over a third of households are one person living alone.
A median standard of living of €22,260 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 Paillé’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €22,260 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 87% of compared French towns.
Paillé: 15% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 57% 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
About one in 11: that is how common households headed by a manager or professional are in Paillé (9.2%). The benchmark for households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town: 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
2.2% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 89% 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 Charente-Maritime has 3.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 89% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The census found that 0.9% of residents are foreign nationals in Paillé.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Fewer single residents than 99% of compared French towns: 17%
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
Census figures put married residents at 43% in Paillé. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Paillé sits below 99% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (12%)
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
In Paillé, 27% of adults out of school have no qualification, beside 19% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
7th highest median age among 41 French towns of 326 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.
A younger town than 1 of the 2 around it: Paillé
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paillé | 54.9 | 31% | 14% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Jean-d'Angély 6,784 · 7 mi | 56 | 36% | 4.6% | 4.5% |
| Val-de-Cognac 3,471 · 16.9 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 3.9% | 3.1% |
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 Paillé
What is the population of Paillé?
326 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% fewer than in 2012 (347).
How old are Paillé’s residents?
The median age is 54.9, older than 94% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Paillé?
32, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Paillé?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.2% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Paillé?
€22,260 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.