Only 12% of households are couples with children in Guéret
The figure for households without a car is 21% in Guéret and 11% in the typical compared French town. Here, 24% of households rent social housing (HLM). Flats are more common here than in 78% of compared French towns. 12,955 residents in 7,050 households: that is Guéret at the 2023 Census.
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 Guéret
Many people living alone
55% of Guéret’s households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 42% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 1,120 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 78% of compared French towns grew faster than Guéret: −2%
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
The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Creuse town −5%. The change was ±0% from 2012 to 2017 and −2% from 2017 to 2023.
Guéret ranks above 72% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 26%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Guéret 46.4. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Guéret is 46.4, higher than in 66% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. For Guéret, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 13%.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Creuse 52.8%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
A larger share of one-person households than 98% of compared French towns: 55%
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
Average household size: 1.7 people. 10% of households are single parents, more than in 55% of compared French towns. On average, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
Empty homes make up 13% in Guéret, more than in 91% 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
Some 17% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 20% who have been there 30 years or more. Guéret has more second homes than nearly three quarters of compared French towns, at 4.5%. On average, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town.
Per consumption unit, the median standard of living is €23,040 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.
At €23,040 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 81% of compared French towns. Below the poverty line: 23.0% of residents.
Households headed by a retired person: 36%, a higher share than 70% 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
By its share of households headed by a manual worker (11%), Guéret is below 71% of compared French towns. Here, 7.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional. In the typical compared French town, households headed by a retired person come to 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A higher share of foreign nationals than 68% of compared French towns, at 6.8%
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.
The median compared commune in Creuse has 7.6%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 63% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. Immigrants account for 8.6%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Guéret, 31% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 97% 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
Single residents: 35%, above 92% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 59% of compared French towns: 27%
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
Compared with 19% in the typical compared French town, just over a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification here. Graduates of higher education make up 30% in the typical compared French town.
15th highest median age among 41 French towns of 12,638 to 13,271
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 Val-de-Reuil (32.3), the youngest, and Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez (61.8), the oldest.
Guéret and the towns around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guéret | 46.4 | 26% | 4.5% | 8.6% |
| Sainte-Feyre 2,566 · 2.2 mi | 51.4 | 30% | 5% | 2.4% |
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 Guéret
What is the population of Guéret?
12,955 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% fewer than in 2012 (13,219).
How old are Guéret’s residents?
The median age is 46.4, older than 66% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Guéret?
380, with occasional dwellings: 4.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Guéret?
INSEE counts 1,110 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.6% of residents, and 880 foreign nationals (6.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Guéret?
€23,040 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.