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. In 2023, the Census found 523 residents in Cherier, living in 230 households. Put another way, about one in 12: nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24. 4.6% of homes are flats (typical compared French town: 30%).
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 Cherier
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 47 second homes and occasional dwellings in Cherier, 15% of its 310 homes: higher than in 91% of compared French towns. 96% 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 6.7% single parents with children; 18% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 36 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.
Cherier ranks above 91% of compared French towns on second homes: 15%
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
By its share of empty homes (12%), Cherier is above 87% of compared French towns. Households without a car are rarer here than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Growth of +6% since 2012 puts Cherier ahead of 54% 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
From 2012 to 2017 the population moved +13%, and from 2017 to 2023 −6%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Loire town +3%.
Older than 66% of compared French towns: half of Cherier is over 46.4
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Cherier 46.4. The median compared French town: 44.
22% of residents are 65 or over, or about one in five.
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%.
One-person households: 27%, a lower share than 89% 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
Households average 2.3 people. The wider picture: 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. 6.7% of households are single parents, fewer than in 92% of compared French towns.
At the median, €22,630 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.
At €22,630 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 84% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 20% in Cherier, more than in 83% 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 manager or professional is 9.4%; Cherier has 6.7%. The wider picture: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town. Here, 29% of households are headed by a retired person.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.3% of residents are immigrants, below 98% 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.
0.6% of residents are foreign nationals; in the typical compared French town the figure is 4.3%. In the typical compared French town, the share of immigrants is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
22% of residents 15 and over are single, below 79% of compared French towns
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
44% of residents 15 and over are married, a higher share than in 55% of compared French towns. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 78% of compared French towns: 22%
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
A quarter of adults out of school have no qualification, against 19% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
The 18th oldest of 41 French towns of 523 to 2,582 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 5 are older than Cherier
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Cherier
What is the population of Cherier?
523 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 6% more than in 2012 (495).
How old are Cherier’s residents?
The median age is 46.4, older than 66% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cherier?
47, with occasional dwellings: 15% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cherier?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.3% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cherier?
€22,630 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.