2% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
The share of households without a car is 2.9%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Marçais had 308 residents in 140 households at the 2023 Census. Residents aged 15 to 24: 7.7% of the total. Households in social housing are rarer here 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 Marçais
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 31 second homes and occasional dwellings in Marçais, 16% of its 200 homes: higher than in 91% 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 ↓
Empty homes
The census found 28 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Marçais had 323 residents at the 2012 census and 308 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 87% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
More second homes than 91% of compared French towns: 16%
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 nearly one in ten households, residents of 30 years or more for 24%. At 14%, the share of empty homes is higher than in 94% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
From 2012 to 2023, 87% of compared French towns grew faster than Marçais: −5%
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
Half of Marçais is over 48.3, older than 76% 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
■ Marçais 48.3. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (27%), Marçais is above 78% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Marçais sits below 99% of compared French towns for single-parent households (3.6%)
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
31% of households are one person living alone, against 35% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 10% of households are single parents. The average household has 2.2 people. Couples with children are more common here than in 53% of compared French towns.
Half above, half below €23,420 a year in standard of living
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 €23,420 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 78% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a manual worker than 75% of compared French towns, at 18%
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 share of households headed by a manager or professional is 11%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. 32% of households are headed by a retired person, a lower share than in 54% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a manual worker come to 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 1.9% of residents are immigrants in Marçais
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 trails 89% of compared French towns: 1.3%. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants. That is lower than in 92% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Cher has 4.6%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Marçais ranks below 92% of compared French towns on single residents: 20%
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, the share of married residents is 43%; Marçais has 39%. On average, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of adults with no qualification than 82% of compared French towns, at 26%
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
24% of Marçais’ residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 26% have no diploma (19%).
Among 41 French towns of 308 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Every neighbor is older than Marçais
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marçais | 48.3 | 27% | 16% | 1.9% |
| Saint-Amand-Montrond 9,899 · 7.2 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 3.9% | 4.5% |
| Dun-sur-Auron 3,524 · 16.3 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 3.2% | 2.4% |
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 Marçais
What is the population of Marçais?
308 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (323).
How old are Marçais’ residents?
The median age is 48.3, older than 76% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Marçais?
31, with occasional dwellings: 16% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Marçais?
INSEE counts 6 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.9% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Marçais?
€23,420 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.