4.6% of households have no car, fewer than in 91% of compared French towns
Where 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town, Chauray has 4.3%. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 7,221, in 3,250 households. The share of households headed by a manager or professional stands at 18%. Flats are rarer here than in 87% of compared French towns.
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.
Growth of +11% since 2012 puts Chauray ahead of 74% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Deux-Sèvres town +1%. The first five years brought +8%; the six to 2023, +3%.
Half of Chauray is over 46.5, older than 67% 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
■ Chauray 46.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, one in ten residents are 15 to 24 here. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 25%.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%.
Chauray ranks below 77% of compared French towns on one-person households: 30%
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
A household here holds 2.2 people on average. Higher than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns: 11% of households are single parents. Against that, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, against 24% in Chauray.
Chauray: 13% of households rent social housing (HLM), above 52% 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
At 1.2%, second homes sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town. Long tenure is the mark of 19% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 9.4% (under two years). As a yardstick, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
Half above, half below €28,780 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.
Living standards centre on €28,780 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 77% of compared French towns. Below the poverty threshold: 7.0% of the population.
Fewer households headed by a manual worker than 69% of compared French towns: 11%
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
On the census count, 32% of households are headed by a retired person. The comparison figure for households headed by a manual worker is 14% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 71% of compared French towns: 4.2%
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.
In the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals is 4.3%; Chauray has 2.4%. To put it in context, 6.5% of residents are immigrants 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.
A lower share of single residents than 69% of compared French towns, at 23%
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
45% of residents 15 and over are married; in the typical compared French town the figure is 43%. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Below 75% of compared French towns: 15% of adults out of school have no qualification
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 graduates of higher education is 37%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town: 19%.
12th highest median age among 41 French towns of 7,133 to 7,310
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Égly is the youngest (35.7); Trégunc the oldest (56.6).
Older than Chauray: 3 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Chauray
What is the population of Chauray?
7,221 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% more than in 2012 (6,483).
How old are Chauray’s residents?
The median age is 46.5, older than 67% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 25% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chauray?
41, with occasional dwellings: 1.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chauray?
INSEE counts 300 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.2% of residents, and 170 foreign nationals (2.4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chauray?
€28,780 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 7.0% 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 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.