Photo: Rijksmuseum · CC010% of households are couples with children, below 99% of compared French towns
In Charlieu, 7.2% of homes are second homes, beside 2.1% in the typical compared French town. With a median age of 50.4, Charlieu is older than 84% of compared French towns. Census day 2023: 3,766 residents and 2,090 households locally. Households headed by a retired person: nearly two fifths of the total.
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 Charlieu
Many people living alone
54% of Charlieu’s households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 46% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of +2% since 2012 leaves Charlieu behind 63% 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, +3% in Loire.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 32% in Charlieu, more than in 89% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Charlieu 50.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 here. As a reference point, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
54% of households are one person living alone, more than in 98% 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 Loire median and the France median
Living alone · share
By its share of single-parent households (12%), Charlieu is above just over four fifths of compared French towns. The average household has 1.7 people. For comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of flats than 83% of compared French towns, at 59%
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
Without a car: one household in five, against 11% in the median compared French town. On average, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Households without a car come to 20% in Charlieu, about two in ten. Higher than in 64% of compared French towns: 16% of households rent social housing (HLM).
Standard of living at the median: €22,630 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 €22,630 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 84% of compared French towns. Residents below the poverty line make up 18.0%.
A higher share of households headed by a manual worker than 70% of compared French towns, at 17%
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
Set against 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 7.8% of households are headed by a manager or professional in Charlieu. The wider picture: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 73% of compared French towns: 4.1% of 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 Loire has 5.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 73% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, 6.5% of residents are immigrants. About one in 32: that is how common foreign nationals are in Charlieu (3.1%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Only 30% of residents 15 and over are married in Charlieu
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 single residents is 32%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
27% of adults out of school have no qualification, a share 83% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
With graduates of higher education at 24%, Charlieu is behind 73% of compared French towns on that count. For comparison, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (3,734 to 3,798 people), the 7th 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.
The youngest is Chauconin-Neufmontiers (34.4), the oldest Ribérac (56.6).
Charlieu sits below 3 of its 6 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlieu | 50.4 | 32% | 7.2% | 4.1% |
| Pouilly-sous-Charlieu 2,588 · 3.1 mi | 49.2 | 28% | 1.2% | 5.1% |
| Mably 7,233 · 7.9 mi | 52.2 | 32% | 0.8% | 7.8% |
| Chauffailles 3,638 · 8.6 mi | 58.1 | 39% | 6.3% | 6% |
| Cours 4,306 · 8.6 mi | 51.1 | 31% | 5.8% | 4.7% |
| Roanne 35,409 · 9.7 mi | 45 | 27% | 3.1% | 14% |
| Riorges 11,139 · 10 mi | 48.7 | 29% | 1.3% | 5.1% |
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 Charlieu
What is the population of Charlieu?
3,766 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (3,705).
How old are Charlieu’s residents?
The median age is 50.4, older than 84% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Charlieu?
180, with occasional dwellings: 7.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Charlieu?
INSEE counts 150 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.1% of residents, and 120 foreign nationals (3.1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Charlieu?
€22,630 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% 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 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.