Chéniers is older than 97% of compared French towns: a median age of 58.2
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. 2% of homes are flats, or about one in 50. At the 2023 Census Chéniers was home to 554 people in 290 households. Here 7.1% of households are single parents, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 10%.
Throughout this page, the Creuse 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 Chéniers
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 110 second homes and occasional dwellings in Chéniers, 22% of its 490 homes: higher than in 94% 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Chéniers’ residents are under 58.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 35% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 96 homes empty (19%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of empty homes than 99% of compared French towns: 19%
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
The figure for households in social housing is 4.5% in Chéniers and 12% in the typical compared French town. Second homes are more common here than in 94% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Households without a car make up about one in 14 here (7.4%).
Chéniers changed by −1% from 2012 to 2023, behind 76% 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 +2%; from 2017 to 2023, −3%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Creuse town −5%.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 5.7%, a lower share than 99% 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
■ Chéniers 58.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 35%, against 22% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 114 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Creuse 52.8%, France 51.8%.
Chéniers sits below 78% of compared French towns for couples with children (19%)
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 Creuse median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 1.9 people on average. The usual figure: a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. On one-person households, Chéniers sits higher than 77% of compared French towns: 42%.
A typical living standard of €22,150 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 €22,150 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 88% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 88% of compared French towns: 42%
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 Chéniers comes in at 11%. As a yardstick, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals: 7.1%, a higher share than 70% 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.
Nearly one in ten residents are immigrants, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. Immigrants make up a share higher than in just over three fifths of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Creuse has 7.6%. Typically, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
38% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 81% 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
Few places have as many single residents: 26% here, more than in 52% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Graduates of higher education: 20%, a lower share than 85% 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 share of adults with no qualification stands at 19%. Elsewhere, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 554 to 2,582 people: this is 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as old as Chéniers
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chéniers | 58.2 | 35% | 22% | 8.2% |
| Guéret 12,955 · 12.5 mi | 46.4 | 26% | 4.5% | 8.6% |
| Sainte-Feyre 2,566 · 14.1 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 5% | 2.4% |
| La Châtre 4,037 · 17.4 mi | 56.2 | 39% | 6.5% | 4.6% |
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 Chéniers
What is the population of Chéniers?
554 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% fewer than in 2012 (562).
How old are Chéniers’ residents?
The median age is 58.2, older than 97% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 35% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chéniers?
110, with occasional dwellings: 22% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chéniers?
INSEE counts 45 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.2% of residents, and 39 foreign nationals (7.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chéniers?
€22,150 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.