Below 99% of compared French towns: 1.3% of homes are flats
11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, against 7.2% in Soumans. The 2023 Census counted 611 residents in 310 households. Here, 5% of households rent social housing (HLM). More households headed by a retired person than in three quarters of compared French towns: 37%.
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 Soumans
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 70 second homes and occasional dwellings in Soumans, 15% of its 470 homes: higher than in 91% of compared French towns. 95% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 89 homes empty (19%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Soumans’ residents are under 51.6 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 27% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Above 99% of compared French towns: 19% of homes stand empty
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 the last two years, just over one in ten households moved in; at the other end, 21% have stayed 30 years or more. For empty homes, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. 15% of homes are second homes, more than in 91% of compared French towns. Little separates the share of households without a car here, 11%, from the figure in the typical compared French town.
A +1% change since 2012: slower than 67% 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
Soumans is older than 88% of compared French towns: a median age of 51.6
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Soumans 51.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 27% here and 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
Fewer single-parent households than 99% of compared French towns: 4.7%
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 2 people on average. Two in five households are one person living alone, more than in 71% of compared French towns. For single-parent households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 10%. Where 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Soumans has 24%.
Half above, half below €22,100 a year in standard of living
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.
The median standard of living in Soumans is €22,100 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 88% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 4.7%, a lower share than 88% 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
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Soumans has 11%. Typically, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 5.4%, a lower share than 60% 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.
The median compared commune in Creuse has 7.6%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in three fifths of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. About one in 24: that is how common foreign nationals are in Soumans (4.1%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Soumans, 40% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 68% 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
Soumans has fewer single residents than 53% of compared French towns, at 25%. As a reference point, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Only 14% of adults out of school have no qualification in Soumans
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
Graduates of higher education: 24%, below 71% of compared French towns. Against that, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 611 to 2,582 people: this is the 10th 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).
Median age: 3 of the 5 towns around Soumans 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soumans | 51.6 | 27% | 15% | 5.4% |
| Huriel 2,536 · 9.2 mi | 48.5 | 27% | 4% | 2.5% |
| Prémilhat 2,540 · 11.3 mi | 53.6 | 31% | 2.3% | 5.9% |
| Domérat 8,622 · 11.3 mi | 53.5 | 33% | 1.6% | 4.4% |
| Montluçon 33,147 · 13.4 mi | 46.9 | 28% | 3.1% | 11% |
| Désertines 4,259 · 14.8 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 1.5% | 5% |
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 Soumans
What is the population of Soumans?
611 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (607).
How old are Soumans’ residents?
The median age is 51.6, older than 88% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Soumans?
70, with occasional dwellings: 15% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Soumans?
INSEE counts 33 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.4% of residents, and 25 foreign nationals (4.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Soumans?
€22,100 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.