Couples with children: 11%, a lower share than 98% of compared French towns
The figure for flats is 1.1% in Esse and 30% in the typical compared French town. Empty homes are more common here than in just over four fifths of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census, 518 people lived in the town, in 260 households. The census found that 6% of residents are 15 to 24 in the town.
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 Esse
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 51 second homes and occasional dwellings in Esse, 15% of its 340 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 ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More second homes than 91% of compared French towns: 15%
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 7.9% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 24% who have been there 30 years or more. Households without a car account for 5.6%. Few places have so few households in social housing: 7.5% here, fewer than in 74% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Slower growth than 55% of compared French towns: Esse changed by +4% 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
Here the change came as ±0% to 2017, then +4% to 2023. Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, +1% in Charente.
Half of Esse is over 50.5, older than 84% 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
■ Esse 50.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, 31% of residents are 65 or over here.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 113 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 13%, a higher share than 88% 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
The share of one-person households is 39%, against 35% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €23,300 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.
The median standard of living in Esse is €23,300 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 79% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a manual worker than 86% of compared French towns, at 21%
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
Here 36% of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manual worker come to 14%. For Esse, the census puts households headed by a manager or professional at 7.5%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 75% of compared French towns: 3.7%
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.
3.6% of residents are foreign nationals, a lower share than in 57% 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.
In Esse, 23% of residents 15 and over are single, 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
At 43%, the share of married residents is higher than in just over half of compared French towns. For comparison, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 86% of compared French towns, at 20%
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 nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Esse has 24%. In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification.
13th highest median age among 41 French towns of 518 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.
Esse sits below 4 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esse | 50.5 | 31% | 15% | 3.7% |
| Confolens 2,730 · 2.5 mi | 58.2 | 39% | 8.8% | 11% |
| Terres-de-Haute-Charente 3,777 · 12.1 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 5.1% | 7.6% |
| Saint-Junien 11,415 · 12.8 mi | 49.9 | 29% | 3.5% | 4.5% |
| Rochechouart 3,603 · 14.6 mi | 56.7 | 37% | 11% | 6.4% |
| Oradour-sur-Glane 2,550 · 16.2 mi | 44.8 | 25% | 3.4% | 2.6% |
| Bellac 3,537 · 17.2 mi | 58.2 | 39% | 8.1% | 7.9% |
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 Esse
What is the population of Esse?
518 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (500).
How old are Esse’s residents?
The median age is 50.5, older than 84% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Esse?
51, with occasional dwellings: 15% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Esse?
INSEE counts 19 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.7% of residents, and 18 foreign nationals (3.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Esse?
€23,300 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 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.