Below 96% of compared French towns: 3.6% of households have no car
One in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town, against 1.7% in Le Cergne. Put another way, about one in 37: 2.7% of households rent social housing (HLM). This Loire town has fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than 93% of compared French towns, at 8%. At the 2023 Census Le Cergne was home to 622 people in 290 households.
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 Le Cergne
Fewer residents than in 2012
Le Cergne had 694 residents at the 2012 census and 622 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 41 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.
A change of −10% since 2012 leaves Le Cergne behind 97% 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
For comparison, the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Loire town +3%.
Half of Le Cergne is over 49.7, older than 82% 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
■ Le Cergne 49.7. The median compared French town: 44.
The census found that nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over in Le Cergne.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Loire 52.0%, France 51.8%.
28% of households are couples with children, a share 65% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
On average, 2.2 people share a household. Across the comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, one-person households are scarce here: 33%, fewer than in 61% of compared French towns.
In Le Cergne, 8.6% of homes are second homes, more than in 86% 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
Just over one in ten homes stand empty, against 6.7% in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 8.4% moved in during the last two years and 24% have stayed three decades or more. Flats are rarer here than in 85% of compared French towns. On average, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €27,740 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.
Half of Le Cergne’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €27,740 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 68% of compared French towns.
Le Cergne sits above 84% of compared French towns for households headed by a retired person (40%)
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
On the census count, 15% of households are headed by a manual worker. 8.7% of Le Cergne’s households are headed by a manager or professional, against 9.4% in the median compared French town; 40% by a retired person (32%).
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of immigrants than 93% of compared French towns, at 1.9%
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 93% of compared French towns. Immigrants: 6.5% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. Foreign nationals make up about one in 77 here (1.3%).
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 married residents than 92% of compared French towns, at 50%
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
With single residents at 20%, Le Cergne is behind 90% of compared French towns on that count. Across the comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Fewer graduates of higher education than 79% 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
Roughly two in ten: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification. Set beside that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 14th oldest of 41 French towns of 622 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.
A younger town than 3 of the 6 around it: Le Cergne
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Cergne | 49.7 | 23% | 8.6% | 1.9% |
| Cours 4,306 · 1.7 mi | 51.1 | 31% | 5.8% | 4.7% |
| Thizy-les-Bourgs 5,771 · 5.7 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 4% | 6.6% |
| Chauffailles 3,638 · 6 mi | 58.1 | 39% | 6.3% | 6% |
| Charlieu 3,766 · 7.1 mi | 50.4 | 32% | 7.2% | 4.1% |
| Pouilly-sous-Charlieu 2,588 · 9.4 mi | 49.2 | 28% | 1.2% | 5.1% |
| Amplepuis 4,876 · 10.3 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 3.1% | 7.8% |
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 Le Cergne
What is the population of Le Cergne?
622 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (694).
How old are Le Cergne’s residents?
The median age is 49.7, older than 82% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 23% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Le Cergne?
31, with occasional dwellings: 8.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Le Cergne?
INSEE counts 12 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.9% of residents, and 8 foreign nationals (1.3%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Le Cergne?
€27,740 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 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.