A smaller share of households without a car than 99% of compared French towns: 2.8%
In Sonnay, 4.5% of homes are flats, beside 30% in the typical compared French town. This Isère town is home to 1,234 residents in 520 households, by the 2023 Census. Census figures put couples with children at 32% in the town. More households headed by a manual worker than in nearly four fifths of compared French towns: 19%.
Throughout this page, the Isère 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.
Sonnay changed by −3% from 2012 to 2023, slower than 80% 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
The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Isère town +7%. The change was −2% from 2012 to 2017 and −1% from 2017 to 2023.
Older than 67% of compared French towns: half of Sonnay is over 46.6
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sonnay 46.6. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 20%, against 22% in the typical compared French town. One in ten residents are 15 to 24, or about one in ten.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Isère 51.3%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 23%, a lower share than 97% 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 Isère median and the France median
Living alone · share
Single-parent households: 5.9% here and 10% in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.4 people. Across the comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
9.3% of homes stand empty, a share 74% of compared French towns don’t reach
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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Against that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. The census found that 4% of homes are second homes in Sonnay.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €28,460 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €28,460 a year: higher than in 74% of compared French towns.
Sonnay sits above 65% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (35%)
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
The share of households headed by a manager or professional tops 59% of compared French towns: 11%. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 80% of compared French towns: 3.2%
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.
1.8% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%). 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.
Sonnay: 52% of residents 15 and over are married, above 95% 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
The figure for single residents is 20% in Sonnay and 25% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
Adults with no qualification: 15%, a lower share than 72% 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
Graduates of higher education: 29% of the total. The share of adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town is 19%.
The 18th oldest of 41 French towns of 1,234 to 2,582 people
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.
Sonnay is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonnay | 46.6 | 20% | 4% | 3.2% |
| Salaise-sur-Sanne 4,606 · 5 mi | 43.3 | 22% | 0.7% | 11% |
| Roussillon 8,595 · 5.1 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 2% | 15% |
| Chanas 2,706 · 5.5 mi | 40.6 | 18% | 3% | 11% |
| Le Péage-de-Roussillon 6,718 · 5.9 mi | 41.8 | 24% | 0.9% | 25% |
| Anneyron 4,169 · 6.1 mi | 46 | 24% | 2.6% | 2.3% |
| Saint-Rambert-d'Albon 7,001 · 6.3 mi | 39.2 | 18% | 1% | 16% |
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 Sonnay
What is the population of Sonnay?
1,234 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (1,268).
How old are Sonnay’s residents?
The median age is 46.6, older than 67% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sonnay?
24, with occasional dwellings: 4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sonnay?
INSEE counts 39 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.2% of residents, and 22 foreign nationals (1.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sonnay?
€28,460 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.