Older than 94% of compared French towns: half of Vesdun is over 55
In the typical compared French town, 6.7% of homes stand empty; in Vesdun, 18%. Few places have so few flats: 3.4% here, fewer than in 98% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census counted 540 residents in 290 households. Across Vesdun, 53% of households are headed by a retired person.
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 Vesdun
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 73 second homes and occasional dwellings in Vesdun, 16% of its 440 homes: higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 99% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Many people living alone
56% of Vesdun’s households are one person: higher than in 99% of compared French towns; 48% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Vesdun had 600 residents at the 2012 census and 540 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Vesdun’s residents are under 55 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 34% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A town of second homes: 16% of its homes
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
Households without a car: 22% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. 8% of households rent social housing (HLM).
Vesdun changed by −10% from 2012 to 2023, behind 97% 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
Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Cher town −4%.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 93% of compared French towns: 34%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Vesdun 55. The median compared French town: 44.
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in Vesdun. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Cher 52.2%, France 51.8%.
A higher share of one-person households than 99% of compared French towns, at 56%
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
Each household has 1.8 people on average. One-person households: 35% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. 18% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 83% of compared French towns.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €19,890 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 residents live in households above €19,890 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 97% of compared French towns.
Vesdun sits below 83% of compared French towns for households headed by a manager or professional (5.3%)
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 Vesdun comes in at 12%. The comparison figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 7.4% of Vesdun’s residents
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.
Put another way, about one in 14: 7.4% of residents are immigrants. That is higher than in 56% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Cher has 4.6%. Vesdun sits close to the norm on foreign nationals: 5.2%, about the same as 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.
Below 95% of compared French towns: 33% of residents 15 and over are married
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
Nearly a third of residents 15 and over are single (typical compared French town: 25%). Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
In Vesdun, 31% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 93% 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
The figure for graduates of higher education is 21% in Vesdun and 30% in the typical compared French town. The share of adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town is 19%.
Among 41 French towns of 540 to 2,582 people, the 6th 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 Vesdun
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vesdun | 55 | 34% | 16% | 7.4% |
| Huriel 2,536 · 12.5 mi | 48.5 | 27% | 4% | 2.5% |
| Saint-Amand-Montrond 9,899 · 12.8 mi | 54.5 | 35% | 3.9% | 4.5% |
| Domérat 8,622 · 14.1 mi | 53.5 | 33% | 1.6% | 4.4% |
| Désertines 4,259 · 16 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 1.5% | 5% |
| Montluçon 33,147 · 16.4 mi | 46.9 | 28% | 3.1% | 11% |
| Prémilhat 2,540 · 16.7 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 2.3% | 5.9% |
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 Vesdun
What is the population of Vesdun?
540 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (600).
How old are Vesdun’s residents?
The median age is 55, older than 94% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 34% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Vesdun?
73, with occasional dwellings: 16% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Vesdun?
INSEE counts 40 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.4% of residents, and 28 foreign nationals (5.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Vesdun?
€19,890 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.