A higher share of empty homes than 86% of compared French towns, at 11%
With households without a car at 6%, Chavanay is behind 80% of compared French towns on that count. The town had 2,884 residents in 1,260 households at the 2023 census. Census figures put flats at 16% here. Higher than in 72% of compared French towns: 29% of households are couples with children.
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 Chavanay
Empty homes
The census found 170 homes empty (11%): 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, 64% of compared French towns grew faster than Chavanay: +1%
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 +2%, and from 2017 to 2023 ±0%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Loire town +3%.
In Chavanay, 20% of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 63% 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
■ Chavanay 44.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Chavanay’s residents are over 44.4, older than in 52% of compared French towns. Locally, just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
Only 31% of households are one person living alone in Chavanay
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
Where 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Chavanay has 8.7%. The wider picture: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. On average, 2.3 people share a household.
Below 77% of compared French towns: 7% of households rent social housing (HLM)
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
Second homes make up 3.5%, against 2.1% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 7.6% moved in during the last two years and 21% have stayed three decades or more.
A typical living standard of €28,510 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 €28,510 a year: higher than in 75% of compared French towns. 8.0% of residents have a standard of living below 60% of France’s median.
Chavanay ranks above 76% of compared French towns on households headed by a manual worker: 18%
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
Here 34% of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. The benchmark for households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town: 14%. Households headed by a manager or professional make up about one in nine here (11%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Chavanay ranks below 68% of compared French towns on immigrants: 4.5%
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 figure for foreign nationals is 3.3% in Chavanay and 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of single residents than 75% of compared French towns, at 23%
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
45% of residents 15 and over are married, against 43% in the typical compared French town. The share of single residents in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Chavanay ranks below 69% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 16%
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
For Chavanay, the census puts graduates of higher education at 31%. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
The 13th youngest of 41 French towns of 2,858 to 2,911 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.
At the ends of the range sit Avord (32.5), the youngest, and Batz-sur-Mer (60.3), the oldest.
Chavanay and its 6 nearest towns: 3 of them 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavanay | 44.4 | 20% | 3.5% | 4.5% |
| Pélussin 3,727 · 2.6 mi | 47.1 | 26% | 7.4% | 3.5% |
| Saint-Clair-du-Rhône 3,778 · 2.6 mi | 45.7 | 22% | 1.3% | 6.9% |
| Saint-Maurice-l'Exil 6,889 · 3.1 mi | 38.9 | 17% | 1.2% | 13% |
| Condrieu 3,957 · 3.8 mi | 47 | 29% | 1.5% | 7.3% |
| Le Péage-de-Roussillon 6,718 · 4.4 mi | 41.8 | 24% | 0.9% | 25% |
| Roussillon 8,595 · 5.1 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 2% | 15% |
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 Chavanay
What is the population of Chavanay?
2,884 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% more than in 2012 (2,842).
How old are Chavanay’s residents?
The median age is 44.4, older than 52% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chavanay?
51, with occasional dwellings: 3.5% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chavanay?
INSEE counts 130 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.5% of residents, and 94 foreign nationals (3.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chavanay?
€28,510 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 8.0% 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.