A higher share of couples with children than 97% of compared French towns, at 38%
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Chambles’s 430 households held 1,075 residents at the 2023 Census. The share of households without a car stands at 1.4%. Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, 4.4% of homes are flats here.
Throughout this page, the Loire 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 Chambles
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 64 second homes and occasional dwellings in Chambles, 12% of its 530 homes: higher than in 89% of compared French towns. 89% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
A town of families
38% of households are couples with children and 5.8% single parents with children; 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
In Chambles, 12% of homes are second homes, more than in 89% 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
In the last two years, one in ten households moved in; at the other end, 23% have stayed 30 years or more. At 6.7%, the share of empty homes is lower than in just over half of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Growth of +11% since 2012 puts Chambles ahead of 73% 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 Loire town changed +3% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +3% and the next six +8%.
Chambles ranks below 75% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 18%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chambles 42.3. The median compared French town: 44.
The median age in Chambles is 42.3, lower than in 63% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Residents aged 15 to 24 make up about one in 11 here (9.4%).
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Below 96% of compared French towns: 24% of households are one person living alone
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 Loire median and the France median
Living alone · share
Households average 2.5 people. 5.8% of households are single parents, fewer than in 97% of compared French towns. For comparison, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €29,920 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.
The median standard of living in Chambles is €29,920 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 84% of compared French towns.
In Chambles, 9.4% of households are headed by a manual worker, fewer than in 80% 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
The share of households headed by a retired person is 29%, against 32% in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manager or professional are more common here than in 57% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer immigrants than 96% of compared French towns: 1.6%
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.
0.8% of residents are foreign nationals (typical compared French town: 4.3%). In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Chambles ranks above 99% of compared French towns on married residents: 56%
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
17% of residents 15 and over are single; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%. The comparison figure for married residents is 43% in the typical compared French town.
Chambles sits below 99% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (7.9%)
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, just over two in five adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Chambles. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
10th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 1,075 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Median age: 4 of the 6 towns around Chambles are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chambles | 42.3 | 18% | 12% | 1.6% |
| Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert 15,764 · 3.5 mi | 45.8 | 24% | 1.1% | 3.7% |
| Unieux 8,514 · 4 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 1.1% | 6.1% |
| Saint-Marcellin-en-Forez 5,116 · 4.2 mi | 41.2 | 20% | 2.7% | 1.8% |
| Roche-la-Molière 9,843 · 4.6 mi | 47 | 25% | 0.7% | 6.7% |
| Fraisses 3,872 · 4.9 mi | 44.9 | 23% | 1.1% | 3.3% |
| Bonson 4,557 · 5 mi | 41.5 | 23% | 1% | 5.8% |
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 Chambles
What is the population of Chambles?
1,075 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% more than in 2012 (967).
How old are Chambles’ residents?
The median age is 42.3, younger than 63% of compared French towns. 25% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chambles?
64, with occasional dwellings: 12% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chambles?
INSEE counts 17 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.6% of residents, and 9 foreign nationals (0.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chambles?
€29,920 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.