Fewer flats than 99% of compared French towns: 1.9%
Single-parent households make up 5%, against 10% in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in 40: 2.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional. Few places have as many second homes: 7.7% here, more than in 85% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 923 residents and 400 households in Clessé.
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.
−3% since 2012: slower than 82% 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
Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Deux-Sèvres town +1%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought ±0%; 2017 to 2023, −3%.
Clessé ranks below 65% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 9.9%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Clessé 44.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Clessé’s residents are over 44.7, older than in 54% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 23% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 111 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Deux-Sèvres 51.4%, France 51.8%.
Clessé sits below 82% of compared French towns for one-person households (29%)
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
Each household has 2.3 people on average. In the typical compared French town, the share of one-person households is 35%. Higher than in just over three fifths of compared French towns: 27% of households are couples with children.
A lower share of households in social housing than 96% of compared French towns, at 2.2%
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
Nearly one in ten homes stand empty; in the typical compared French town the figure is 6.7%. In the typical compared French town, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM). Households without a car make up about one in 24 here (4.2%).
The median resident lives on €22,680 a year per consumption unit
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 Clessé’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €22,680 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 84% of compared French towns.
A higher share of households headed by a manual worker than 98% of compared French towns, at 26%
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
34% of households are headed by a retired person; in the typical compared French town the figure is 32%. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 80% of compared French towns: 3.1% of residents are immigrants
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.
With foreign nationals at 1.8%, Clessé is behind just over four fifths of compared French towns on that count. In the typical compared French town, immigrants come to 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A larger share of married residents than 98% of compared French towns: 53%
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
In Clessé, nearly a fifth of residents 15 and over are single, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 97% of compared French towns: 15%
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 19% in the typical compared French town, the share of adults with no qualification in Clessé comes in at 25%. To put it in context, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 923 to 2,582 people: this is the 18th youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
A younger town than 5 of the 6 around it: Clessé
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clessé | 44.7 | 23% | 7.7% | 3.1% |
| Châtillon-sur-Thouet 2,656 · 8.5 mi | 55.8 | 37% | 1.3% | 3.4% |
| Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre 5,121 · 8.8 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Bressuire 19,970 · 9 mi | 43.7 | 22% | 1.8% | 9.6% |
| Parthenay 10,140 · 9.1 mi | 50 | 31% | 2.8% | 7.3% |
| Airvault 3,306 · 13.6 mi | 52.8 | 31% | 6.8% | 3.6% |
| Cerizay 4,793 · 14.4 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 1.4% | 15% |
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 Clessé
What is the population of Clessé?
923 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (955).
How old are Clessé’s residents?
The median age is 44.7, older than 54% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Clessé?
37, with occasional dwellings: 7.7% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Clessé?
INSEE counts 29 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.1% of residents, and 17 foreign nationals (1.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Clessé?
€22,680 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 8, 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.