Chârost sits below 97% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (3.2%)
Here 4.7% of homes are flats, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. 7.7% of residents are 15 to 24, a lower share than in 94% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 888 residents in 460 households. Across Chârost, 6.3% of households are single parents.
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 Chârost
Fewer residents than in 2012
Chârost had 1,041 residents at the 2012 census and 888 in 2023, down 15%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Chârost’s residents are under 51.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 24% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.4% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 77 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−15% since 2012, a pace below 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%. From 2012 to 2017 the change was −6%; from 2017 to 2023, −9%.
Chârost is older than 87% of compared French towns: a median age of 51.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chârost 51.4. The median compared French town: 44.
In Chârost, nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, beside 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Chârost ranks below 77% of compared French towns on couples with children: 19%
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
On average, 1.9 people share a household. Chârost has more one-person households than 74% of compared French towns, at 41%. By way of comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
Chârost: 14% of homes stand empty, above 93% 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
4.4% of homes are second homes (Cher median 2.6%, France median 2.1%) and 14% are empty (6.7%). In the last two years, 9% of households moved in; at the other end, 27% have stayed 30 years or more. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 78% of compared French towns.
The median resident lives on €24,090 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 €24,090 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 70% of compared French towns.
In Chârost, 25% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 96% 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
The figure for households headed by a retired person is 36% in Chârost and 32% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 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).
Below 80% of compared French towns: 3.2% of residents are immigrants
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 median compared commune in Cher has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in four fifths of compared French towns. Immigrants make up 6.5% in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 1.9% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A smaller share of single residents than 84% of compared French towns: 21%
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 Chârost, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. Single residents make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
Only 15% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Chârost
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
Nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, against 26% in Chârost. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (888 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Chârost is younger than 1 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chârost | 51.4 | 24% | 4.4% | 3.2% |
| Saint-Florent-sur-Cher 6,463 · 6.1 mi | 49.5 | 29% | 3% | 6.7% |
| Issoudun 11,159 · 6.7 mi | 52 | 30% | 3.1% | 7.7% |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin 3,681 · 10.8 mi | 47.2 | 24% | 0.6% | 4.3% |
| Mehun-sur-Yèvre 6,380 · 11.3 mi | 50.7 | 29% | 2.1% | 7.4% |
| Trouy 4,055 · 12 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 1% | 3.2% |
| Saint-Doulchard 9,647 · 13.9 mi | 51.4 | 29% | 0.8% | 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 Chârost
What is the population of Chârost?
888 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% fewer than in 2012 (1,041).
How old are Chârost’s residents?
The median age is 51.4, older than 87% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chârost?
25, with occasional dwellings: 4.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chârost?
INSEE counts 29 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.2% of residents, and 17 foreign nationals (1.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chârost?
€24,090 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.