9.6% of households are couples with children, below 99% of compared French towns
Set against 32% in the typical compared French town, 52% of households are headed by a retired person in Thou. The town’s 110 households held 211 residents at the 2023 Census. On the census count, 7.7% of residents are 15 to 24. Few places have so few households in social housing: 6.8% here, fewer than in 78% of compared French towns.
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 Thou
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 33 second homes and occasional dwellings in Thou, 20% of its 160 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Thou had 235 residents at the 2012 census and 211 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Thou’s residents are under 51.9 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.1% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 24 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.
Above 93% of compared French towns: 20% of homes are second homes
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
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. In Thou, 15% of homes stand empty. The share of households without a car trails 62% of compared French towns: 8.6%.
A −10% change since 2012: slower than 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
Over those years, the median Loiret town changed +6% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −3%, then −8% to 2023.
A median age of 51.9: Thou is older than 88% 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
■ Thou 51.9. The median compared French town: 44.
29% of Thou’s residents are 65 or older, against 23% in the median Loiret town and 22% in the median compared French town; 18% are under 18.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Loiret 51.7%, France 51.8%.
One-person households make up 33% in Thou, 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
Each household has 2 people on average. As a yardstick, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Thou has fewer single-parent households than 58% of compared French towns, at 9.6%.
€23,960 a year: the median standard of living
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 €23,960 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 72% of compared French towns.
14% of households are headed by a manual worker, more than in 53% 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
Households headed by a manager or professional are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 80% of compared French towns: 1.9% of residents are foreign nationals
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 lower than in 60% of compared French towns. The benchmark for foreign nationals in the typical compared French town: 4.3%. Immigrants account for 5.3%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 18%, a lower share than 97% 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
The figure for married residents is 50% in Thou and 43% in the typical compared French town. Set beside that, 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
Below 78% of compared French towns: 22% 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
Lower than in 59% of compared French towns: 18% of adults out of school have no qualification. Measured more widely, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 9th oldest of 41 French towns this size
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.
Thou sits below 2 of its 4 closest neighbors on median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thou | 51.9 | 29% | 20% | 5.3% |
| Châtillon-sur-Loire 3,065 · 7.4 mi | 48.6 | 27% | 11% | 2.7% |
| Briare 4,911 · 8.9 mi | 54.1 | 34% | 9.7% | 12% |
| Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire 9,733 · 12.2 mi | 54.4 | 36% | 8.3% | 6.7% |
| Gien 13,459 · 14.9 mi | 43.2 | 24% | 5.9% | 19% |
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 Thou
What is the population of Thou?
211 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (235).
How old are Thou’s residents?
The median age is 51.9, older than 88% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Thou?
33, with occasional dwellings: 20% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Thou?
INSEE counts 11 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 5.3% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (1.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Thou?
€23,960 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.