Photo: Diliff · CC BY-SA 3.0Above 96% of compared French towns: 15% of residents are 15 to 24
Households without a car are more common here than in 90% of compared French towns. Blois had 47,219 residents in 23,130 households at the 2023 census. Flats account for 67%. Against a figure of 2.1% in the typical compared French town, the share of second homes in Blois comes in at 4.3%.
Throughout this page, the Loir-et-Cher 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 Blois
Immigrants
INSEE counts 9,100 immigrants in Blois (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 19% of residents, against 6% for the median compared commune in Loir-et-Cher. 18% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Blois’ households are one person: higher than in 94% of compared French towns; 41% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Social housing
31% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 29% rent privately and 37% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 3,200 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.
From 2012 to 2023, 58% of compared French towns grew faster than Blois: +3%
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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved ±0%, and from 2017 to 2023 +2%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Loir-et-Cher town −3%.
Younger than 84% of compared French towns: half of Blois is under 39
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Blois 39. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 20%, against 22% in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loir-et-Cher 52.4%, France 51.8%.
Blois ranks above 94% of compared French towns on one-person households: 50%
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 Loir-et-Cher median and the France median
Living alone · share
In Blois, 18% of households are couples with children, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. On single-parent households, Blois sits higher than 72% of compared French towns: 12%. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2 people.
Blois: 31% of households rent social housing (HLM), above 93% 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
The figure for empty homes is 12% in Blois and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. 15% of households arrived within the last two years, while 13% have stayed 30 years or more.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €21,640 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.
Living standards centre on €21,640 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 90% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 28.0%.
29% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 67% 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
In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a manual worker is 14%; Blois has 15%. The usual figure: 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. The share of households headed by a manager or professional stands at 11%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 19% in Blois, more than in 92% 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.
Foreign nationals: 18% here and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Loir-et-Cher has 6%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 92% of compared French towns. Immigrants make up 6.5% 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.
A higher share of single residents than 94% of compared French towns, at 36%
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 share of married residents trails 93% of compared French towns: 33%. Typically, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Blois: 25% of adults out of school have no qualification, above 76% 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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 33% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Blois. The usual figure: 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 44,002 to 50,595 people, the 21st 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.
Talence is the youngest (30.5); Les Sables-d'Olonne the oldest (59.6).
Blois is younger 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blois | 39 | 20% | 4.3% | 19% |
| La Chaussée-Saint-Victor 4,471 · 2.4 mi | 49.9 | 29% | 1.7% | 6.3% |
| Saint-Gervais-la-Forêt 3,180 · 2.5 mi | 51.8 | 30% | 1% | 5.2% |
| Villebarou 2,584 · 2.5 mi | 44.6 | 20% | 1.3% | 9.3% |
| Vineuil 8,064 · 3 mi | 47.9 | 27% | 1.1% | 6.1% |
| Chailles 2,726 · 4.1 mi | 48.8 | 25% | 2.3% | 4.3% |
| Cellettes 2,715 · 5.5 mi | 48 | 27% | 5.4% | 4% |
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 Blois
What is the population of Blois?
47,219 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (45,903).
How old are Blois’ residents?
The median age is 39, younger than 84% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Blois?
1,200, with occasional dwellings: 4.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Blois?
INSEE counts 9,090 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 19% of residents, and 8,690 foreign nationals (18%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Blois?
€21,640 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 28.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.