In Cernon, 29% of homes are second homes, more than in 95% of compared French towns
Flats: 3.5%, below 98% of compared French towns. The 2023 Census put Cernon’s population at 235, in 110 households. For Cernon, the census puts households without a car at 4.5%. With a median age of 49.6, Cernon is older than 82% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Jura 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 Cernon
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 56 second homes and occasional dwellings in Cernon, 29% of its 190 homes: higher than in 95% of compared French towns. 98% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Cernon had 264 residents at the 2012 census and 235 in 2023, down 11%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 22 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Cernon, 12% of homes stand empty, more than in 88% 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 are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Empty homes: 6.7% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Of all households, 8.9% moved in during the last two years and 22% have stayed three decades or more.
Slower growth than 98% of compared French towns: Cernon changed by −11% since 2012
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 first five years brought −5%; the six to 2023, −6%.
Cernon ranks below 98% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 6.7%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Cernon 49.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 21% in Cernon. Against that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 114 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Jura 52.0%, France 51.8%.
In Cernon, 4.2% of households are single parents, fewer than in 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 Jura median and the France median
Living alone · share
There are 2.1 people in the average household. Cernon has fewer couples with children than 73% of compared French towns, at 20%. Across the comparison, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. The share of one-person households is 37%, against 35% in the typical compared French town.
At the median, €26,080 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €26,080 a year per consumption unit, higher than in 51% of compared French towns.
16% of households are headed by a manual worker, a share 65% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
In Cernon, 31% of households are headed by a retired person, beside 32% in the typical compared French town. The share of households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town is 14%. On the census count, 9.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
7% of Cernon’s 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.
The median compared commune in Jura has 7.6%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 53% of compared French towns. About one in 14: that is how common immigrants are in Cernon (7%). At 4.5%, the share of foreign nationals is in line with the figure 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.
Below 94% of compared French towns: 19% of residents 15 and over are single
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
Married residents: 46%, above 72% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for single residents is 25% in the typical compared French town.
Adults with no qualification make up 15% in Cernon, less than in 75% 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 figure for graduates of higher education is 27% in Cernon and 30% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
14th highest median age among 41 French towns of 235 to 2,582
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).
No nearby town is as old as Cernon
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cernon | 49.6 | 21% | 29% | 7% |
| Arbent 3,555 · 8.4 mi | 44.1 | 22% | 1% | 24% |
| Oyonnax 22,480 · 10 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 2.1% | 33% |
| Saint-Claude 8,386 · 10.1 mi | 48.5 | 26% | 5.1% | 20% |
| Bellignat 3,525 · 10.7 mi | 40.8 | 21% | 1.7% | 26% |
| Montréal-la-Cluse 3,568 · 15.7 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 2.2% | 23% |
| Nantua 3,416 · 17.4 mi | 42.3 | 23% | 3.6% | 27% |
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 Cernon
What is the population of Cernon?
235 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% fewer than in 2012 (264).
How old are Cernon’s residents?
The median age is 49.6, older than 82% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cernon?
56, with occasional dwellings: 29% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cernon?
INSEE counts 16 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7% of residents, and 10 foreign nationals (4.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cernon?
€26,080 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.