1.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional, below 99% of compared French towns
The share of couples with children is 18%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. For Vallenay, the census puts flats at 2.7%. Compared with other places, second homes are common here: 9.8%, more than in 88% of compared French towns. At the 2023 Census Vallenay was home to 687 people in 350 households.
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 Vallenay
An older town
Half of Vallenay’s residents are under 51.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 30% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.1% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Vallenay’s population moved −2% on 2012, less than in 79% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the change was +5%; from 2017 to 2023, −7%.
Vallenay is older than 87% of compared French towns: a median age of 51.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vallenay 51.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 8.2% of residents are 15 to 24 in Vallenay. For Vallenay, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 30%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 40% in Vallenay, more than in 70% 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
With single-parent households at 12%, Vallenay is ahead of 82% of compared French towns on that count. On average, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Each household has 2 people on average.
A higher share of empty homes than 79% of compared French towns, at 10%
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
Without a car: one household in seven, against 11% in the median compared French town. Elsewhere, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. In Vallenay, 15% of households have no car. Fewer households in social housing than in 53% of compared French towns: 12%.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €23,200 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 €23,200 a year: lower than in 80% of compared French towns.
Vallenay: 46% of households are headed by a retired person, above 94% 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 manual worker: 17%, above just over two thirds of compared French towns. The comparison figure for households headed by a retired person is 32% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Only 1.4% of residents are immigrants in Vallenay
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.
4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town, against 1.3% in Vallenay. The usual figure: 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share lower than in 97% 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.
Vallenay sits below 75% of compared French towns for married residents (39%)
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: 24%, below 60% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
12% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
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
19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, against 34% in Vallenay. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
The 11th oldest of 41 French towns of 687 to 2,582 people
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Vallenay and its 4 nearest towns: 2 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vallenay | 51.4 | 30% | 9.8% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Amand-Montrond 9,899 · 8 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 3.9% | 4.5% |
| Dun-sur-Auron 3,524 · 11.2 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 3.2% | 2.4% |
| Saint-Florent-sur-Cher 6,463 · 14.8 mi | 49.5 | 29% | 3% | 6.7% |
| Trouy 4,055 · 16.4 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 1% | 3.2% |
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 Vallenay
What is the population of Vallenay?
687 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (704).
How old are Vallenay’s residents?
The median age is 51.4, older than 87% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vallenay?
43, with occasional dwellings: 9.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vallenay?
INSEE counts 10 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.4% of residents, and 9 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vallenay?
€23,200 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.