Bué ranks above 99% of compared French towns on empty homes: 21%
14% of households are couples with children (typical compared French town: 25%). Census day 2023: 296 residents and 140 households in Bué. Across Bué, 7.1% of residents are 15 to 24. Compared with other places, flats are scarce here: 6.2%, fewer than in 94% of compared French towns.
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 Bué
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 33 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bué, 15% of its 230 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 ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Bué had 342 residents at the 2012 census and 296 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 48 homes empty (21%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Bué’s residents are under 50.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 26% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5.4% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes make up 15% in Bué, more than in 91% 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
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 7.6% of households have no car here. Against that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Recent arrivals (under two years) make up 6.3% of households; long-stayers (30 years or more) 29%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Bué’s population moved −13% on 2012, less than in 99% 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 same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Cher town −4%.
Bué is older than 85% of compared French towns: a median age of 50.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bué 50.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Bué ranks above 91% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 14%
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
Households here average 2.1 people each. In the typical compared French town, 10% of households are single parents. Higher than in 62% of compared French towns: 38% of households are one person living alone.
The median resident lives on €36,300 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.
Living standards centre on €36,300 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 96% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manual worker than 74% of compared French towns, at 10%
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 retired person: 34%, above 61% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals make up 2% in Bué, less than in 78% 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.
Immigrants make up a share lower than in 73% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Cher has 4.6%. Measured more widely, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Across Bué, 4.1% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
50% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 93% 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
In the typical compared French town, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single; in Bué, 20%. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
A lower share of adults with no qualification than 77% of compared French towns, at 14%
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
By its share of graduates of higher education (38%), Bué is above 74% of compared French towns. The benchmark for adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town: 19%.
Of 41 French towns its size (296 to 2,582 people), the 11th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
Every neighbor is older than Bué
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bué | 50.8 | 26% | 15% | 4.1% |
| Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire 9,733 · 9.3 mi | 54.4 | 36% | 8.3% | 6.7% |
| La Charité-sur-Loire 4,705 · 14 mi | 54 | 36% | 6.7% | 5.7% |
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 Bué
What is the population of Bué?
296 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (342).
How old are Bué’s residents?
The median age is 50.8, older than 85% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bué?
33, with occasional dwellings: 15% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bué?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.1% of residents, and 6 foreign nationals (2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bué?
€36,300 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.