Older than 89% of compared French towns: half of Surgères is over 52
Here 17% of households are couples with children, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 25%. Surgères counted 6,897 residents and 3,380 households at the 2023 Census. For Surgères, the census puts households headed by a retired person at 47%. Fewer flats than in just over two thirds of compared French towns: 20%.
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 Surgères
An older town
Half of Surgères’ residents are under 52 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: +5% since 2012, behind 50% 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved +3%, then +1% to 2023. Over those years, the median Charente-Maritime town changed +8% and the median compared French town +5%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 91% of compared French towns: 33%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Surgères 52. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 10%. Against that, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente-Maritime 53.1%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Surgères: 42% of households are one person living alone, above 76% of compared French towns
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
There are 2 people in the average household. The wider picture: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. 9.1% of households are single parents, a lower share than in 66% of compared French towns.
A higher share of empty homes than 81% of compared French towns, at 10%
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
Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 11% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 18%. Fewer households in social housing than in 69% of compared French towns: 8.3%. In the typical compared French town, 6.7% of homes stand empty. Second homes are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 2.3%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €24,050 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 €24,050 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 71% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 15.0% of the population.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 70% of compared French towns: 6.7%
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 the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker; in Surgères, 13%. As a yardstick, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 2.8%, a lower share than 84% 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 figure for foreign nationals is 1.8% in Surgères and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
40% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 72% 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
25% of residents 15 and over are single. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
Surgères sits below 72% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (24%)
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
Where 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Surgères has 22%. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
5th highest median age among 41 French towns of 6,830 to 6,975
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 La Plaine-des-Palmistes (37.4), the youngest, and Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche (57), the oldest.
Surgères is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surgères | 52 | 33% | 2.3% | 2.8% |
| Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon 2,941 · 7.3 mi | 47.3 | 28% | 3.9% | 2.8% |
| Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis 4,677 · 8.7 mi | 47.1 | 27% | 3.1% | 2% |
| La Jarrie 3,458 · 12.4 mi | 46.4 | 22% | 2.1% | 2.4% |
| Tonnay-Charente 8,289 · 12.7 mi | 49 | 27% | 1.6% | 3% |
| Saint-Jean-de-Liversay 3,063 · 12.9 mi | 42.2 | 20% | 5.9% | 1.7% |
| Frontenay-Rohan-Rohan 2,967 · 14.2 mi | 46.9 | 22% | 2.2% | 4.1% |
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 Surgères
What is the population of Surgères?
6,897 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% more than in 2012 (6,581).
How old are Surgères’ residents?
The median age is 52, older than 89% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Surgères?
89, with occasional dwellings: 2.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Surgères?
INSEE counts 190 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.8% of residents, and 130 foreign nationals (1.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Surgères?
€24,050 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 15.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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 9, 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.