Households without a car: 2.3%, a lower share than 99% of compared French towns
In the typical compared French town, 30% of homes are flats; in Pessines, 2.4%. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 796, in 360 households. One-person households make up about one in four here (26%). 11% of households are headed by a manual worker, fewer than in 70% of compared French towns.
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 Pessines
An older town
Half of Pessines’ residents are under 52.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 25% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5.7% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: +1% since 2012, behind 64% 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 median Charente-Maritime town changed +8% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −5% and the next six +7%.
Older than 90% of compared French towns: half of Pessines is over 52.5
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Pessines 52.5. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 9.1%, Pessines is behind 80% of compared French towns on that count. On residents aged 65 and over, Pessines sits higher than 67% of compared French towns: 25%.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente-Maritime 53.1%, France 51.8%.
Pessines ranks below 99% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 2.8%
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
The share of couples with children tops nearly two thirds of compared French towns: 28%. By way of comparison, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.2 people.
Fewer empty homes than 71% of compared French towns: 5.2%
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. Empty homes make up 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Nearly one in ten households moved in less than two years ago; 23% have been in their home 30 years or more. With second homes at 3.1%, Pessines is ahead of 63% of compared French towns on that count.
At the median, €26,880 a year to live on
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 Pessines’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €26,880 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 60% of compared French towns.
Pessines ranks above 57% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 34%
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
Just over one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional (typical compared French town: 9.4%). As a reference point, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 2.5% in Pessines, less than in 86% 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.
In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals; in Pessines, 1.1%. The median compared commune in Charente-Maritime has 3.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 86% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for immigrants is 6.5% in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents make up 56% in Pessines, more 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
17% of residents 15 and over are single (typical compared French town: 25%). In the typical compared French town, the share of married residents is 43%.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 76% of compared French towns: 23%
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 Pessines, 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
The 8th oldest of 41 French towns of 796 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Median age: 1 of the 6 towns around Pessines are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Pessines
What is the population of Pessines?
796 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (785).
How old are Pessines’ residents?
The median age is 52.5, older than 90% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Pessines?
12, with occasional dwellings: 3.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Pessines?
INSEE counts 20 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.5% of residents, and 9 foreign nationals (1.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Pessines?
€26,880 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 8, 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.