Half of Sancerre is over 59.4, older than 98% of compared French towns
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Sancerre has 8.7%. The 2023 Census counted 1,269 residents in 640 households. 13% of households are couples with children. Households without a car are more common here than in 65% 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 Sancerre
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 200 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sancerre, 19% of its 1,070 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 88% 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 Sancerre’s residents are under 59.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 42% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 17% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sancerre had 1,541 residents at the 2012 census and 1,269 in 2023, down 18%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
52% of Sancerre’s households are one person: higher than in 95% of compared French towns; 30% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 22% of homes stand empty
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: 26% here and 30% in the typical compared French town. Second homes make up about one in five here (19%). Few places have as many households in social housing: 17% here, more than in 67% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
−18% since 2012, a pace below 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
In two steps, −10% to 2017 and −9% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −4% in Cher.
42% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 98% 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
■ Sancerre 59.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 9.8%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
A higher share of one-person households than 95% of compared French towns, at 52%
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
Average household size: 1.8 people. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 82% of compared French towns. To put it in context, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €26,540 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 €26,540 a year: higher than in 56% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person make up 42% in Sancerre, more than in 88% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 7.8%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. The share of households headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Sancerre: 5.4% of residents are foreign nationals, above 60% 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.
5.5% of residents are immigrants, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. On average, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 59% 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.
Sancerre ranks below 86% of compared French towns on married residents: 36%
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
By its share of single residents (28%), Sancerre is above 71% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
30% of adults hold a diploma above the bac
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
Across Sancerre, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. More graduates of higher education than in 50% of compared French towns: 30%.
41 French towns of 1,269 to 2,582 people: this is the 4th 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 younger than Sancerre
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sancerre | 59.4 | 42% | 19% | 5.5% |
| Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire 9,733 · 7 mi | 54.4 | 36% | 8.3% | 6.7% |
| La Charité-sur-Loire 4,705 · 13.6 mi | 54 | 36% | 6.7% | 5.7% |
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 Sancerre
What is the population of Sancerre?
1,269 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 18% fewer than in 2012 (1,541).
How old are Sancerre’s residents?
The median age is 59.4, older than 98% of compared French towns. 14% are under 18 and 42% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sancerre?
200, with occasional dwellings: 19% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sancerre?
INSEE counts 70 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.5% of residents, and 69 foreign nationals (5.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sancerre?
€26,540 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.