Empty homes make up 15% in Gien, more than in 96% of compared French towns
The share of households headed by a manual worker is 22%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. Census day 2023: 13,459 residents and 5,990 households in Gien. Put another way, about one in 17: 5.9% of homes are second homes. More one-person households than in 73% of compared French towns: 41%.
Throughout this page, the Loiret 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 Gien
Immigrants
INSEE counts 2,500 immigrants in Gien (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 19% of residents, against 9.8% for the median compared commune in Loiret. 15% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Gien had 14,519 residents at the 2012 census and 13,459 in 2023, down 7%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 1,180 homes empty (15%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −7% since 2012, behind 94% 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 Loiret town +6%. The first five years brought −4%; the six to 2023, −4%.
24% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 64% 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
■ Gien 43.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Half of Gien’s residents are under 43.2, younger than in 56% of compared French towns. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 11% locally.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loiret 51.7%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children make up 23% in Gien, less than in 60% 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 Loiret median and the France median
Living alone · share
A household here holds 2.2 people on average. To put it in context, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. On single-parent households, Gien sits higher than 58% of compared French towns: 11%.
Above 76% of compared French towns: 20% 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
Car-free households: one in seven, where the median compared French town has 11%. Here, 42% of homes are flats. 15% of households have no car, more than in 68% of compared French towns. Against that, just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €21,740 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.
Living standards centre on €21,740 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 90% of compared French towns. 26.0% of residents have a standard of living below 60% of France’s median.
Gien ranks above 69% of compared French towns on households headed by a retired person: 36%
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
6.9% of households are headed by a manager or professional; in the typical compared French town the figure is 9.4%. Set beside that, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Gien ranks above 92% of compared French towns on immigrants: 19%
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 Loiret has 9.8%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 92% of compared French towns. 15% of residents are foreign nationals, or about one in seven. 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.
A larger share of single residents than 71% of compared French towns: 28%
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
Across Gien, just over two in five residents 15 and over are married. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
33% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 96% of compared French towns
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 20%, Gien is behind 84% of compared French towns on that count. The share of adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town is 19%.
The 19th oldest of 41 French towns of 13,074 to 13,843 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 30.2 in Fleury-Mérogis to 61.8 in Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez.
No nearby town is as young as Gien
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gien | 43.2 | 24% | 5.9% | 19% |
| Briare 4,911 · 6 mi | 54.1 | 34% | 9.7% | 12% |
| Ouzouer-sur-Loire 2,543 · 9 mi | 45 | 20% | 7.4% | 3.2% |
| Châtillon-sur-Loire 3,065 · 9.2 mi | 48.6 | 27% | 11% | 2.7% |
| Nogent-sur-Vernisson 2,559 · 11.2 mi | 46.9 | 26% | 4.8% | 8.9% |
| Sully-sur-Loire 5,124 · 13.2 mi | 45.4 | 28% | 5% | 15% |
| Lorris 2,996 · 14.2 mi | 50.4 | 32% | 5.4% | 6.3% |
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 Gien
What is the population of Gien?
13,459 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% fewer than in 2012 (14,519).
How old are Gien’s residents?
The median age is 43.2, younger than 56% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gien?
450, with occasional dwellings: 5.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gien?
INSEE counts 2,520 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 19% of residents, and 2,060 foreign nationals (15%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gien?
€21,740 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 26.0% 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.