Older than 97% of compared French towns: half of Graçay is over 57.3
The figure for couples with children is 12% in Graçay and 25% in the typical compared French town. Locally, 1.6% of households are headed by a manager or professional. 6.1% of homes are flats, a lower share than in 94% of compared French towns. This Cher town had 1,234 residents in 630 households at the 2023 census.
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 Graçay
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 180 second homes and occasional dwellings in Graçay, 19% of its 930 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Graçay’s residents are under 57.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 39% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 17% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Graçay had 1,456 residents at the 2012 census and 1,234 in 2023, down 15%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
48% of Graçay’s households are one person: higher than in 89% of compared French towns; 33% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 19% of its homes
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
With households in social housing at 14%, Graçay is ahead of 59% of compared French towns on that count. Higher than in 91% of compared French towns: 13% of homes stand empty. Against that, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Across Graçay, 15% of households have no car.
From 2012 to 2023, 99% of compared French towns grew faster than Graçay: −15%
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 −1%; from 2017 to 2023, −15%.
In Graçay, 39% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 97% 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
■ Graçay 57.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 6.4% of residents are 15 to 24 in Graçay. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Graçay ranks above 89% of compared French towns on one-person households: 48%
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 1.8 people in the average household. Set beside that, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, single-parent households are common here: 14%, more than in 92% of compared French towns.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €22,620 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.
The median standard of living in Graçay is €22,620 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 85% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 97% of compared French towns: 50%
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 manual worker are rarer here than in 58% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 71% of compared French towns: 4.2% 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.
Compared with 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 2.2% of residents are foreign nationals here. Against that, 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.
Graçay sits below 79% of compared French towns for married residents (38%)
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
Single residents make up 23%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. Against that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Graçay sits below 97% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (15%)
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
Adults with no qualification: 29%, above 88% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, graduates of higher education come to 30%.
5th highest median age among 41 French towns of 1,234 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Every neighbor is younger than Graçay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graçay | 57.3 | 39% | 19% | 4.2% |
| Méreau 2,632 · 9.9 mi | 47.8 | 25% | 4.3% | 3.2% |
| Villefranche-sur-Cher 2,678 · 11.6 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 6.1% | 3.8% |
| Vierzon 25,068 · 11.6 mi | 49.1 | 30% | 2% | 13% |
| Chabris 2,740 · 12.1 mi | 53.7 | 34% | 7.8% | 3.2% |
| Issoudun 11,159 · 15.2 mi | 52 | 30% | 3.1% | 7.7% |
| Romorantin-Lanthenay 18,373 · 15.8 mi | 47.2 | 27% | 2.5% | 10% |
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 Graçay
What is the population of Graçay?
1,234 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% fewer than in 2012 (1,456).
How old are Graçay’s residents?
The median age is 57.3, older than 97% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 39% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Graçay?
180, with occasional dwellings: 19% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Graçay?
INSEE counts 52 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.2% of residents, and 27 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Graçay?
€22,620 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.