Only 0.8% of homes are flats in Arçay
0.5% of households rent social housing (HLM), against 12% in the typical compared French town. There were 210 households in Arçay at the 2023 Census, home to 500 residents. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 14%. On one-person households, Arçay sits lower than 93% of compared French towns: 26%.
Throughout this page, the Cher 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 Arçay
Fewer residents than in 2012
Arçay had 529 residents at the 2012 census and 500 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 89% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−5% since 2012, a pace below 89% 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
In two steps, −4% to 2017 and −2% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −4% in Cher.
Younger than 84% of compared French towns: half of Arçay is under 38.9
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Arçay 38.9. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 11% of the total.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Below 92% of compared French towns: 6.8% of households are single parents
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 Cher median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2.4 people in the average household. 31% of households are couples with children, a higher share than in 81% of compared French towns. Typically, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns: 2.3%
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
17% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 7.8% moved in within the last two years. Arçay has fewer second homes than 78% of compared French towns, at 1.1%. In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%. Where 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, Arçay has 8.1%.
A median of €27,530 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 midpoint of living standards here is €27,530 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 66% of compared French towns.
Arçay sits above 92% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (23%)
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
Households headed by a manager or professional: 14% here and 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in four: a quarter of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 88% of compared French towns: 2.3%
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, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; Arçay has 1%. The usual figure: 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
Single residents make up 23% in Arçay, less than in 67% 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 figure for married residents is 41% in Arçay and 43% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 96% of compared French towns, at 9.5%
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
Here 37% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. The wider picture: 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 500 to 2,582 people: this is the 2nd youngest
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.
Every neighbor is older than Arçay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arçay | 38.9 | 14% | 1.1% | 2.3% |
| Saint-Florent-sur-Cher 6,463 · 4.9 mi | 49.5 | 29% | 3% | 6.7% |
| Trouy 4,055 · 5.9 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 1% | 3.2% |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin 3,681 · 7.8 mi | 47.2 | 24% | 0.6% | 4.3% |
| Bourges 64,186 · 9.7 mi | 42.4 | 23% | 3.2% | 11% |
| Saint-Doulchard 9,647 · 10.8 mi | 51.4 | 29% | 0.8% | 7% |
| Dun-sur-Auron 3,524 · 12 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 3.2% | 2.4% |
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 Arçay
What is the population of Arçay?
500 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (529).
How old are Arçay’s residents?
The median age is 38.9, younger than 84% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 14% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Arçay?
3, with occasional dwellings: 1.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Arçay?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.3% of residents, and 5 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Arçay?
€27,530 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.