51% of households are one person living alone, a share 94% of compared French towns don’t reach
Against a figure of 11% in the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car in Bourges comes in at 21%. The town counted 64,186 residents and 32,710 households at the 2023 Census. Residents aged 15 to 24 make up about one in seven here (14%). More flats than in four fifths of compared French towns: 55%.
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 Bourges
Many people living alone
51% of Bourges’ households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 38% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 4,460 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.
A −4% change since 2012: slower than 84% 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 the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Cher town −4%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought −3%; 2017 to 2023, −1%.
Half of Bourges is under 42.4, younger than 63% 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
■ Bourges 42.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Here, 23% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
A smaller share of couples with children than 89% of compared French towns: 15%
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
Each household has 1.9 people on average. For comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many single-parent households: 10% here, more than in 54% of compared French towns.
Empty homes: 12%, a higher share than 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
Long tenure is the mark of 16% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 17% (under two years). Few places have as many households in social housing: 21% here, more than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, empty homes come to 6.7%. With second homes at 3.2%, Bourges is ahead of 64% of compared French towns on that count.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €24,230 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.
At €24,230 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 69% of compared French towns. As for poverty, 21.6% of residents are below the line.
In Bourges, 13% of households are headed by a manager or professional, more than in 67% of compared French towns
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 Bourges, 31% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. Across Bourges, just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker. On average, 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).
Bourges sits above 76% of compared French towns for immigrants (11%)
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 share of foreign nationals is 9.3%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
35% of residents 15 and over are single, a share 93% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
34% of residents 15 and over are married, against 43% in the typical compared French town. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Bourges ranks above 62% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 34%
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 five: a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 56,799 to 72,978 people, the 10th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Cergy (30.4), the youngest, and Fréjus (49.5), the oldest.
Of the 6 towns nearest Bourges, 5 are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bourges | 42.4 | 23% | 3.2% | 11% |
| Saint-Doulchard 9,647 · 2.2 mi | 51.4 | 29% | 0.8% | 7% |
| Trouy 4,055 · 3.8 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 1% | 3.2% |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin 3,681 · 3.9 mi | 47.2 | 24% | 0.6% | 4.3% |
| Saint-Germain-du-Puy 4,779 · 4 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 0.9% | 4.8% |
| Saint-Martin-d'Auxigny 2,546 · 8.1 mi | 41 | 18% | 2.4% | 3.5% |
| Mehun-sur-Yèvre 6,380 · 9.4 mi | 50.7 | 29% | 2.1% | 7.4% |
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 Bourges
What is the population of Bourges?
64,186 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (66,666).
How old are Bourges’ residents?
The median age is 42.4, younger than 63% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bourges?
1,220, with occasional dwellings: 3.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bourges?
INSEE counts 7,380 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 11% of residents, and 5,980 foreign nationals (9.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bourges?
€24,230 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 21.6% 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 4, 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.