Photo: Pierusama · CC0A median age of 57.4: Sancoins is older than 97% of compared French towns
Where 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, Sancoins has 8.8%. The 2023 Census counted 2,951 residents in 1,510 households. 14% of households are couples with children. Higher than in 84% of compared French towns: 20% of households have no car.
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 Sancoins
An older town
Half of Sancoins’ residents are under 57.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 36% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sancoins had 3,266 residents at the 2012 census and 2,951 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 340 homes empty (17%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower growth than 97% of compared French towns: Sancoins changed by −10% 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
In two steps, −6% to 2017 and −4% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −4% in Cher.
In Sancoins, 36% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 95% 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
■ Sancoins 57.4. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24; in Sancoins, 7.7%. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
45% of households are one person living alone, more than in 84% 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
The typical household size is 1.9 people. Locally, 9% of households are single parents. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
In Sancoins, 17% of homes stand empty, more than in 98% of compared French towns
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
In Sancoins, 15% of households rent social housing (HLM), beside 12% in the typical compared French town. Few places have as many second homes: 5.9% here, more than in 80% of compared French towns. For comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Nearly a quarter of households have been in place 30 years or more; 11% moved in within the last two years.
Median standard of living: €21,140 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 €21,140 a year: lower than in 93% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 23.0% of residents.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 98% of compared French towns: 2.7%
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 manual worker is 17%, against 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%. Put another way, about one in two: 45% 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).
A lower share of immigrants than 91% of compared French towns, at 2%
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.
1.3% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up 6.5% 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.
23% of residents 15 and over are single, below 70% 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
Married residents make up 41%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. As a reference point, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Sancoins sits below 99% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (11%)
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
40% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (2,917 to 2,984 people), the 5th 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.
The youngest is Gorcy (40.5), the oldest Vimoutiers (60.1).
No nearby town is as old as Sancoins
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sancoins | 57.4 | 36% | 5.9% | 2% |
| La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois 3,151 · 8.5 mi | 51.2 | 32% | 6.8% | 1.9% |
| Marzy 3,623 · 13.6 mi | 49.1 | 25% | 1.5% | 4.5% |
| Fourchambault 3,992 · 15.3 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 1.2% | 6.3% |
| Nevers 33,085 · 15.7 mi | 45.5 | 26% | 3.5% | 14% |
| Garchizy 3,648 · 16.6 mi | 45 | 23% | 1.4% | 3.9% |
| Varennes-Vauzelles 9,146 · 16.8 mi | 53.7 | 34% | 1.1% | 6.1% |
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 Sancoins
What is the population of Sancoins?
2,951 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (3,266).
How old are Sancoins’ residents?
The median age is 57.4, older than 97% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sancoins?
120, with occasional dwellings: 5.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sancoins?
INSEE counts 60 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2% of residents, and 37 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sancoins?
€21,140 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 23.0% 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 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.