Chavin ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 1.7%
With households headed by a retired person at 51%, Chavin is ahead of 98% of compared French towns on that count. The town had 270 residents in 130 households at the 2023 census. Here, 0.8% of households rent social housing (HLM). Lower than in 91% of compared French towns: 8.3% of residents are 15 to 24.
Throughout this page, the Indre 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 Chavin
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 25 second homes and occasional dwellings in Chavin, 13% of its 190 homes: higher than in 90% 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 ↓
Empty homes
The census found 34 homes empty (18%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Chavin ranks above 98% of compared French towns on empty homes: 18%
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
One household in 19 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town. The wider picture: 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. In Chavin, 13% of homes are second homes. Few places have so few households without a car: 5.4% here, fewer than in 85% of compared French towns.
A change of −3% since 2012 leaves Chavin behind 81% 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
Medians for comparison: +5% across compared French towns, −5% in Indre.
Chavin is older than 80% of compared French towns: a median age of 49.2
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chavin 49.2. The median compared French town: 44.
22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, against 27% in Chavin.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Indre 53.6%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Chavin, 39% of households are one person living alone, more than in 67% 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 Indre median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2.1 people. Elsewhere, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. There is little gap on couples with children: 25%, about the same as in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €22,840 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.
At €22,840 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 83% of compared French towns.
Above 95% of compared French towns: 24% of households are headed by a manual worker
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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The benchmark for households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town: 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 1.1%, a lower share than 99% 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.
1.5% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. 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.
Below 84% of compared French towns: 37% of residents 15 and over are married
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
Compared with 25% in the typical compared French town, 24% of residents 15 and over are single here. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
14% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 98% 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
The share of adults with no qualification tops 71% of compared French towns: 23%. On average, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 270 to 2,582 people: this is the 14th 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).
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 4 are older than Chavin
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavin | 49.2 | 27% | 13% | 1.1% |
| Argenton-sur-Creuse 4,786 · 4.7 mi | 52.1 | 30% | 8.7% | 5.1% |
| Le Poinçonnet 5,855 · 15.5 mi | 53.2 | 30% | 1.9% | 4.4% |
| Ardentes 3,715 · 16.2 mi | 48.9 | 25% | 4% | 2.4% |
| Saint-Maur 3,537 · 17.5 mi | 50.5 | 27% | 2.2% | 3.3% |
| Châteauroux 42,963 · 17.6 mi | 45.2 | 26% | 2.7% | 12% |
| La Châtre 4,037 · 18 mi | 56.2 | 39% | 6.5% | 4.6% |
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 Chavin
What is the population of Chavin?
270 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (278).
How old are Chavin’s residents?
The median age is 49.2, older than 80% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chavin?
25, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chavin?
INSEE counts 3 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.1% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (1.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chavin?
€22,840 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.