Below 97% of compared French towns: 4.1% of homes are flats
Set against 10% in the typical compared French town, 5.9% of households are single parents in Chavannes. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 151, in 76 households. About one in 26: that is how common households without a car are in Chavannes (3.8%). Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% 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 Chavannes
Fewer residents than in 2012
Chavannes had 187 residents at the 2012 census and 151 in 2023, down 19%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 11 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.
−19% 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 those years, the median Cher town changed −4% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −7%, then −13% to 2023.
Chavannes ranks below 90% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 8.3%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chavannes 48. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over trails 61% of compared French towns: 21%. Still, with a median age of 48, Chavannes is older than 74% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 120 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
41% of households are one person living alone, more than in 74% 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 Cher median and the France median
Living alone · share
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children in Chavannes comes in at 24%. In the typical compared French town, one-person households come to 35%. Each household has 2 people on average.
7.5% of homes are second homes, more than in 84% 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
Newcomers of less than two years account for 1.3% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 33%. Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For second homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 2.1%. In the typical compared French town, 6.7% of homes stand empty; in Chavannes, 12%.
€24,480 a year is the median standard of living here
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 Chavannes is €24,480 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 66% of compared French towns.
35% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 99% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
Compared with 32% in the typical compared French town, just over a third of households are headed by a retired person here. The comparison figure for households headed by a manual worker is 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Chavannes sits below 80% of compared French towns for immigrants (3.2%)
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 80% of compared French towns. Foreign nationals account for 1.9%. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% 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.
Married residents: 46%, a higher share than 75% 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
Across Chavannes, 25% of residents 15 and over are single. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
In Chavannes, 18% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 90% of compared French towns
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
In the typical compared French town, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification; in Chavannes, 22%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (151 to 2,582 people), the 15th 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).
Chavannes sits below 4 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavannes | 48 | 21% | 7.5% | 3.2% |
| Dun-sur-Auron 3,524 · 9.3 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 3.2% | 2.4% |
| Saint-Amand-Montrond 9,899 · 10.7 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 3.9% | 4.5% |
| Saint-Florent-sur-Cher 6,463 · 11.4 mi | 49.5 | 29% | 3% | 6.7% |
| Trouy 4,055 · 12.3 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 1% | 3.2% |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin 3,681 · 14.7 mi | 47.2 | 24% | 0.6% | 4.3% |
| Bourges 64,186 · 15.9 mi | 42.4 | 23% | 3.2% | 11% |
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 Chavannes
What is the population of Chavannes?
151 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 19% fewer than in 2012 (187).
How old are Chavannes’ residents?
The median age is 48, older than 74% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chavannes?
7, with occasional dwellings: 7.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chavannes?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.2% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chavannes?
€24,480 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 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.