In Cognac, 13% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 95% of compared French towns
Where 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, Cognac has 9.7%. Roughly two in ten: 18% of households have no car. Households headed by a manual worker are more common here than in three quarters of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Cognac was home to 18,532 people in 10,080 households.
Throughout this page, the Charente 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 Cognac
Many people living alone
52% of Cognac’s households are one person: higher than in 96% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 72% of compared French towns: Cognac changed by −1% since 2012
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, +1% in Charente.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 61% of compared French towns: 24%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Cognac 44.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Little separates the share of residents aged 15 to 24 here, 11%, from the figure in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Half of Cognac’s residents are over 44.7, older than in 55% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 52% in Cognac, more than in 96% 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 median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 1.8 people. Typically, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Just over one in ten households are single parents, more than in 60% of compared French towns.
Above 66% of compared French towns: 16% of households rent social housing (HLM)
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 flats tops 62% of compared French towns: 38%. For comparison, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in 36: 2.8% of homes are second homes.
A typical living standard of €24,930 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.
Living standards centre on €24,930 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 61% of compared French towns. Under the poverty line sit 19.0% of residents.
The largest group of households: retired (32%)
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
Higher than in 53% of compared French towns: 10% of households are headed by a manager or professional. Fewer households headed by a retired person than in 51% of compared French towns: 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 6.3% of Cognac’s residents
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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 52% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Charente has 4.8%. Foreign nationals: 4.9% of the total.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Married residents: 33%, a lower share than 94% 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
With single residents at 31%, Cognac is ahead of 84% of compared French towns on that count. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Cognac: 22% of adults out of school have no qualification, above 64% 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
Put another way, about one in three: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Against that, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 11th oldest of 41 French towns this size
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 33.2 in Moissy-Cramayel to 59.7 in Sanary-sur-Mer.
Every neighbor is older than Cognac
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cognac | 44.7 | 24% | 2.8% | 6.3% |
| Châteaubernard 3,878 · 1.1 mi | 49.5 | 29% | 1.9% | 4.8% |
| Val-de-Cognac 3,471 · 4 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 3.9% | 3.1% |
| Jarnac 4,486 · 7.5 mi | 52.5 | 33% | 3.8% | 4.5% |
| Chaniers 3,651 · 11.5 mi | 50.9 | 29% | 4% | 2% |
| Pons 4,343 · 13.2 mi | 50.3 | 30% | 3.1% | 7.1% |
| Rouillac 2,919 · 14.4 mi | 49.3 | 30% | 5.7% | 2.6% |
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 Cognac
What is the population of Cognac?
18,532 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (18,626).
How old are Cognac’s residents?
The median age is 44.7, older than 55% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cognac?
320, with occasional dwellings: 2.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cognac?
INSEE counts 1,170 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.3% of residents, and 910 foreign nationals (4.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cognac?
€24,930 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 19.0% 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 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.