Primelles: 30% of homes stand empty, above 99% of compared French towns
In Primelles, 1.1% of households rent social housing (HLM), beside 12% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 191 residents and 94 households locally. Households headed by a manual worker account for 28%. 17% of households are couples with children, a lower share than in 86% 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 Primelles
Fewer residents than in 2012
Primelles had 250 residents at the 2012 census and 191 in 2023, down 24%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 42 homes empty (30%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Primelles’ residents are under 52.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 23% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−24% since 2012: slower than 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −4% in Cher. Here the change came as −1% to 2017, then −23% to 2023.
Older than 89% of compared French towns: half of Primelles is over 52.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Primelles 52.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Nothing unusual on residents aged 15 to 24: 11%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town. 23% of residents are 65 or over, a higher share than in 54% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 65% of compared French towns: 39%
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
Single-parent households: 11% here and 10% in the typical compared French town. On average, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Households here average 2 people each.
Primelles ranks below 70% of compared French towns on households without a car: 7.4%
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
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town. The share of second homes stands at 4.2%.
Median standard of living: €23,900 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €23,900 a year: lower than in 73% of compared French towns.
In Primelles, 5.6% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 80% of compared French towns
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 retired person trails three quarters of compared French towns: 28%. The wider picture: nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 91% of compared French towns: 2.1%
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 (typical compared French town: 4.3%). As a reference point, 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.
Married residents make up 36% in Primelles, less than in 86% 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
Single residents: 21%, below 84% of compared French towns. Against that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Primelles ranks below 91% of compared French towns on graduates of higher education: 18%
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
Against a figure of 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Primelles comes in at 22%. Across the comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 191 to 2,582 people, the 9th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Primelles is older 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primelles | 52.1 | 23% | 4.2% | 2.1% |
| Saint-Florent-sur-Cher 6,463 · 5 mi | 49.5 | 29% | 3% | 6.7% |
| Trouy 4,055 · 10.3 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 1% | 3.2% |
| Issoudun 11,159 · 10.5 mi | 52 | 30% | 3.1% | 7.7% |
| La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin 3,681 · 10.8 mi | 47.2 | 24% | 0.6% | 4.3% |
| Bourges 64,186 · 14 mi | 42.4 | 23% | 3.2% | 11% |
| Saint-Doulchard 9,647 · 14.3 mi | 51.4 | 29% | 0.8% | 7% |
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 Primelles
What is the population of Primelles?
191 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 24% fewer than in 2012 (250).
How old are Primelles’ residents?
The median age is 52.1, older than 89% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Primelles?
6, with occasional dwellings: 4.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Primelles?
INSEE counts 4 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.1% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Primelles?
€23,900 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.