Older than 97% of compared French towns: half of Varaignes is over 57.4
Couples with children: 14%, below 94% of compared French towns. 358 residents in 200 households: that is Varaignes at the 2023 Census. On the census count, nearly half of households are headed by a retired person. Flats are rarer here than in 98% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Dordogne 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 Varaignes
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 84 second homes and occasional dwellings in Varaignes, 27% of its 320 homes: higher than in 94% of compared French towns. 94% 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 Varaignes’ residents are under 57.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.6% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Varaignes had 422 residents at the 2012 census and 358 in 2023, down 15%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Second homes: 27%, a higher share than 94% 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
Households in social housing make up 1.4%, against 12% in the typical compared French town. On empty homes, Varaignes sits higher than 84% of compared French towns: 11%. The comparison figure for second homes is 2.1% in the typical compared French town. 7.6% of households have no car, or about one in 13.
Varaignes changed by −15% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 99% 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 same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Dordogne town −1%.
Below 99% of compared French towns: 5.3% of residents are 15 to 24
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Varaignes 57.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 22% in the typical compared French town, 33% of residents are 65 or over here. Typically, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 111 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Dordogne 52.7%, France 51.8%.
2.5% of households are single parents, below 99% of compared French towns
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 Dordogne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 1.8 people. Few places have as many one-person households: 46% here, more than in 85% of compared French towns. For single-parent households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 10%.
At the median, €22,700 a year to live on
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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €22,700 a year: lower than in 84% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 2.8%, a lower share than 98% 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
Against a figure of 14% in the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker in Varaignes comes in at 16%. Households headed by a manager or professional: 9.4% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Foreign nationals make up 7.1% in Varaignes, more than in 70% 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.
In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants; in Varaignes, 7.6%. The benchmark for foreign nationals in the typical compared French town: 4.3%. The median compared commune in Dordogne has 5.4%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 58% of compared French towns.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
39% of residents 15 and over are married, fewer than in 77% 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: 23%, below 71% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Only 23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Varaignes
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, nearly a quarter of adults out of school have no qualification here. Typically, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (358 to 2,582 people), 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Every neighbor is younger than Varaignes
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varaignes | 57.4 | 33% | 27% | 7.6% |
| Nontron 3,057 · 8.3 mi | 54.9 | 35% | 10% | 6.8% |
| La Rochefoucauld-en-Angoumois 4,025 · 11.7 mi | 53.8 | 34% | 4.5% | 2.9% |
| Magnac-sur-Touvre 3,255 · 14.7 mi | 47.8 | 26% | 2% | 3.3% |
| Brie 4,125 · 15.3 mi | 42.4 | 19% | 1.2% | 1.6% |
| Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure 3,111 · 15.6 mi | 52 | 32% | 2.5% | 4.7% |
| Ruelle-sur-Touvre 7,408 · 15.7 mi | 48.7 | 27% | 1.1% | 4.2% |
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 Varaignes
What is the population of Varaignes?
358 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 15% fewer than in 2012 (422).
How old are Varaignes’ residents?
The median age is 57.4, older than 97% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Varaignes?
84, with occasional dwellings: 27% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Varaignes?
INSEE counts 27 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.6% of residents, and 25 foreign nationals (7.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Varaignes?
€22,700 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.