Méreau ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 0.9%
3.7% of homes stand empty, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Méreau counted 2,632 residents and 1,130 households at the 2023 Census. For Méreau, the census puts one-person households at 26%. Households without a car 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.
Faster growth than 54% of compared French towns: Méreau changed by +6% since 2012
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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was +5%; from 2017 to 2023, +1%.
Méreau is older than 74% of compared French towns: a median age of 47.8
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Méreau 47.8. The median compared French town: 44.
25% of Méreau’s residents are 65 or older, against 29% in the median Cher town and 22% in the median compared French town; 22% are under 18. Fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than in 70% of compared French towns: 9.7%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Fewer single-parent households than 99% of compared French towns: 4.9%
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
The figure for couples with children is 32% in Méreau and 25% in the typical compared French town. The share of single-parent households in the typical compared French town is 10%. Average household size: 2.3 people.
Méreau sits below 99% of compared French towns for households in social housing (0.2%)
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
2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town, against 4.3% in Méreau. For comparison, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €27,240 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.
Half of Méreau’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €27,240 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 63% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 6.0% of residents.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 68% of compared French towns: 36%
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
Against a figure of 14% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker in Méreau comes in at 16%. Measured more widely, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. 8.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals make up 1.3% in Méreau, less than in 89% 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.
By its share of immigrants (3.2%), Méreau is below 80% of compared French towns. For comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
Single residents make up 19% in Méreau, less than in 96% 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
In Méreau, 50% of residents 15 and over are married, beside 43% in the typical compared French town. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Below 66% of compared French towns: 26% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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
17% of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. Graduates of higher education: 30% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 2,604 to 2,662 people: this is the 14th 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 Bourguébus (34.6), the youngest, and Longeville-sur-Mer (62.9), the oldest.
Méreau is younger than 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Méreau | 47.8 | 25% | 4.3% | 3.2% |
| Vierzon 25,068 · 2.5 mi | 49.1 | 30% | 2% | 13% |
| Mehun-sur-Yèvre 6,380 · 8.6 mi | 50.7 | 29% | 2.1% | 7.4% |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin 3,681 · 15.5 mi | 47.2 | 24% | 0.6% | 4.3% |
| Villefranche-sur-Cher 2,678 · 15.5 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 6.1% | 3.8% |
| Saint-Doulchard 9,647 · 15.9 mi | 51.4 | 29% | 0.8% | 7% |
| Salbris 4,809 · 16.4 mi | 54.2 | 32% | 6.5% | 9.2% |
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 Méreau
What is the population of Méreau?
2,632 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (2,491).
How old are Méreau’s residents?
The median age is 47.8, older than 74% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Méreau?
53, with occasional dwellings: 4.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Méreau?
INSEE counts 85 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.2% of residents, and 35 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Méreau?
€27,240 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 6.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.