Meillant sits below 99% of compared French towns for flats (0.5%)
8.6% of residents are 15 to 24, against 11% in the typical compared French town. On households without a car, Meillant sits lower than 89% of compared French towns: 4.9%. In 2023, the Census found 645 residents in the town, living in 310 households. Put another way, about one in 17: 5.8% of households rent social housing (HLM).
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 Meillant
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 61 second homes and occasional dwellings in Meillant, 14% of its 440 homes: higher than in 90% of compared French towns. 98% 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 69 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Meillant ranks above 96% of compared French towns on empty homes: 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
By its share of second homes (14%), Meillant is above 90% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Meillant changed by −4% from 2012 to 2023, behind 84% 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
The years 2012 to 2017 brought +2%; 2017 to 2023, −6%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Cher town −4%.
Half of Meillant is over 50, older than 83% 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
■ Meillant 50. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, 25% of residents are 65 or over here.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children make up 22% in Meillant, less than in 64% 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
In the typical compared French town, 35% of households are one person living alone; in Meillant, 33%. Average household size: 2.1 people. On single-parent households, Meillant sits lower than 56% of compared French towns: 9.7%. Elsewhere, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
€26,100 a year: the median 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €26,100 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 51% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manager or professional than 73% of compared French towns, at 6.4%
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: 18% here and 14% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for households headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town: 9.4%. 34% of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Meillant, 3.1% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 81% 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.
1.6% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Cher has 4.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 81% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 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.
Below 85% of compared French towns: 21% of residents 15 and over are single
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 median compared French town 43% are married and 6.1% in a PACS; here it is 45% and 6%, and 7.5% are widowed. Set beside that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 82% of compared French towns: 21%
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
A fifth of adults out of school have no qualification, a higher share than in 57% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
14th highest median age among 41 French towns of 645 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Meillant is younger than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meillant | 50 | 25% | 14% | 3.1% |
| Saint-Amand-Montrond 9,899 · 3.5 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 3.9% | 4.5% |
| Dun-sur-Auron 3,524 · 8 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 Meillant
What is the population of Meillant?
645 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (670).
How old are Meillant’s residents?
The median age is 50, older than 83% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Meillant?
61, with occasional dwellings: 14% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Meillant?
INSEE counts 20 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.1% of residents, and 10 foreign nationals (1.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Meillant?
€26,100 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.