Half of Arçais is over 56.3, older than 95% of compared French towns
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 0.8% of homes are flats in Arçais. By contrast, on households headed by a retired person, Arçais sits higher than 98% of compared French towns: 51%. 615 residents in 300 households: that is Arçais at the 2023 Census. In Arçais, 4.4% of households rent social housing (HLM).
Throughout this page, the Deux-Sèvres 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 Arçais
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 120 second homes and occasional dwellings in Arçais, 26% of its 470 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 100% 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 Arçais’ residents are under 56.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 36% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A higher share of second homes than 94% of compared French towns, at 26%
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
Compared with 6.7% in the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten homes stand empty here. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%. Locally, 6.8% of households have no car.
From 2012 to 2023, 64% of compared French towns grew faster than Arçais: +1%
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
Residents aged 65 and over: 36%, a higher share than 95% 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
■ Arçais 56.3. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24; in Arçais, 8.5%. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over 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: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Only 18% of households are couples with children in Arçais
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 Deux-Sèvres median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households here average 1.9 people each. Arçais has more one-person households than just over two thirds of compared French towns, at 40%. Typically, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Against a figure of 10% in the typical compared French town, the share of single-parent households in Arçais comes in at 13%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €23,640 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 €23,640 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 75% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 3.3%, a lower share than 96% 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
In Arçais, 9.4% of households are headed by a manual worker, beside 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
3% of residents are immigrants, below 82% 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 Deux-Sèvres has 3.7%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in just over four fifths of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%. On the census count, 2.3% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 37% of residents 15 and over are married in Arçais
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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, nearly a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in Arçais. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Arçais: 22% of adults out of school have no qualification, above 63% 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
Against a figure of 30% in the typical compared French town, the share of graduates of higher education in Arçais comes in at 27%. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 615 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).
Around Arçais, 1 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arçais | 56.3 | 36% | 26% | 3% |
| Benet 4,089 · 6.4 mi | 46.7 | 25% | 4.7% | 2.2% |
| Magné 2,728 · 6.8 mi | 57.7 | 37% | 4.8% | 3.2% |
| Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon 2,941 · 7.2 mi | 47.3 | 28% | 3.9% | 2.8% |
| Frontenay-Rohan-Rohan 2,967 · 7.9 mi | 46.9 | 22% | 2.2% | 4.1% |
| Saint-Jean-de-Liversay 3,063 · 9.3 mi | 42.2 | 20% | 5.9% | 1.7% |
| Niort 59,854 · 11.1 mi | 43.7 | 23% | 3.3% | 8.5% |
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 Arçais
What is the population of Arçais?
615 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (606).
How old are Arçais’ residents?
The median age is 56.3, older than 95% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 36% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Arçais?
120, with occasional dwellings: 26% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Arçais?
INSEE counts 18 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (2.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Arçais?
€23,640 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 9, 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.