Jarnac sits below 96% of compared French towns for couples with children (13%)
The share of households headed by a retired person is 42%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few households in social housing: 8.8% here, fewer than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. Jarnac had 4,486 residents in 2,290 households at the 2023 census. Across Jarnac, 21% of homes are flats.
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 Jarnac
An older town
Half of Jarnac’s residents are under 52.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Many people living alone
48% of Jarnac’s households are one person: higher than in 91% of compared French towns; 34% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 320 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: +2% since 2012, behind 63% 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 those years, the median Charente town changed +1% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved ±0%, then +2% to 2023.
A median age of 52.5: Jarnac is older than 90% 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
■ Jarnac 52.5. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 65 and over at 33%, Jarnac is ahead of 91% of compared French towns on that count. Put another way, about one in ten: one in ten residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Charente 52.4%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households: 48%, a higher share than 91% 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
On average, 1.8 people share a household. The usual figure: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Few places have so few single-parent households: 9.9% here, fewer than in 52% of compared French towns.
Jarnac: 12% of homes stand empty, above 87% of compared French towns
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
Here 3.8% of homes are second homes, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. In the typical compared French town, 6.7% of homes stand empty. Households without a car: 13% of the total.
The median resident lives on €25,040 a year per consumption unit
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 Jarnac is €25,040 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 60% of compared French towns. 14.0% of residents live below the poverty line INSEE uses.
Fewer households headed by a manager or professional than 85% of compared French towns: 5%
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
Census figures put households headed by a manual worker at 14% in Jarnac. By way of comparison, 9.4% of 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).
4.5% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 68% 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.
3.2% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Charente has 4.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 68% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
36% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 86% 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
The share of single residents stands at 26%. Elsewhere, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Only 24% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Jarnac
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
Compared with 19% in the typical compared French town, nearly a quarter of adults out of school have no qualification here. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (4,454 to 4,515 people), the 5th oldest
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 36.6 in Jacob-Bellecombette to 60.7 in Banyuls-sur-Mer.
Jarnac 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jarnac | 52.5 | 33% | 3.8% | 4.5% |
| Châteaubernard 3,878 · 6.7 mi | 49.5 | 29% | 1.9% | 4.8% |
| Cognac 18,532 · 7.5 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 2.8% | 6.3% |
| Châteauneuf-sur-Charente 3,550 · 8.4 mi | 49.8 | 29% | 2.9% | 6.4% |
| Rouillac 2,919 · 9 mi | 49.3 | 30% | 5.7% | 2.6% |
| Val-de-Cognac 3,471 · 10 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 3.9% | 3.1% |
| Roullet-Saint-Estèphe 4,357 · 12.5 mi | 45.5 | 22% | 1.4% | 2.9% |
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 Jarnac
What is the population of Jarnac?
4,486 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (4,419).
How old are Jarnac’s residents?
The median age is 52.5, older than 90% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Jarnac?
100, with occasional dwellings: 3.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Jarnac?
INSEE counts 200 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.5% of residents, and 140 foreign nationals (3.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Jarnac?
€25,040 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 14.0% 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.