Younger than 96% of compared French towns: half of Orléans is under 35.1
Here 76% of homes are flats, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. At the 2023 Census Orléans was home to 116,357 people in 58,130 households. Roughly three in ten: 29% of households have no car. On empty homes, Orléans sits higher than just over four fifths of compared French towns: 10%.
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 Orléans
A young town
Half of Orléans’ residents are under 35.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 17% are under 15 and 17% are 65 or older. Ages ↓
Immigrants
INSEE counts 23,500 immigrants in Orléans (people born abroad who weren’t French at birth, whatever their nationality now): 20% of residents, against 9.8% for the median compared commune in Loiret. 17% are foreign nationals. Immigrants and foreign nationals ↓
Many people living alone
51% of Orléans’ households are one person: higher than in 95% of compared French towns; 40% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Orléans’s population moved +2% on 2012, less than in 62% 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
The median Loiret town changed +6% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought +2% and the next six ±0%.
Orléans sits above 98% of compared French towns for residents aged 15 to 24 (18%)
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Orléans 35.1. The median compared French town: 44.
17% of residents are 65 or over (typical compared French town: 22%). Set beside that, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loiret 51.7%, France 51.8%.
More one-person households than 95% of compared French towns: 51%
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
18% of households are couples with children, against 25% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. A household here holds 2 people on average.
Orléans: 22% of households rent social housing (HLM), above 81% 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
The share of second homes tops 71% of compared French towns: 4%. The wider picture: 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 €23,630 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.
At €23,630 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 76% of compared French towns. Some 23.3% of residents fall below the poverty line.
23% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 88% 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, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional; in Orléans, 17%. The comparison figure for households headed by a retired person is 32% in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 13% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A larger share of immigrants than 93% of compared French towns: 20%
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.
Here 17% of residents are foreign nationals, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. Immigrants make up 6.5% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Loiret has 9.8%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 93% of compared French towns.
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 97% of compared French towns: 39%
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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Orléans comes in at 33%. Typically, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Above 84% of compared French towns: 43% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification
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
Here, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification. For comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 87,599 to 156,140 people, the 16th youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Poitiers is the youngest (30); Perpignan the oldest (42).
No nearby town is as young as Orléans
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orléans | 35.1 | 17% | 4% | 20% |
| Saint-Jean-le-Blanc 9,562 · 0.9 mi | 45.5 | 25% | 1.6% | 11% |
| Saint-Pryvé-Saint-Mesmin 6,256 · 1.8 mi | 43.4 | 24% | 1.7% | 11% |
| Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle 16,768 · 2.1 mi | 39 | 19% | 1.7% | 21% |
| Olivet 23,507 · 2.2 mi | 40.7 | 21% | 2% | 9% |
| Saint-Denis-en-Val 7,766 · 2.6 mi | 47.3 | 23% | 0.9% | 6.2% |
| Fleury-les-Aubrais 21,804 · 2.7 mi | 38.2 | 18% | 1.2% | 18% |
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 Orléans
What is the population of Orléans?
116,357 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 2% more than in 2012 (114,286).
How old are Orléans’ residents?
The median age is 35.1, younger than 96% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Orléans?
2,730, with occasional dwellings: 4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Orléans?
INSEE counts 23,480 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 20% of residents, and 19,310 foreign nationals (17%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Orléans?
€23,630 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 23.3% 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 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.