Flats make up 7.6% in Chalaines, less than in 91% of compared French towns
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Chalaines had 299 residents in 140 households at the 2023 Census. Residents aged 65 and over account for 28%. Here 11% of homes stand empty, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 6.7%.
Throughout this page, the Meuse 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 Chalaines
Fewer residents than in 2012
Chalaines had 326 residents at the 2012 census and 299 in 2023, down 8%: slower growth than in 95% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A change of −8% since 2012 leaves Chalaines behind 95% 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 −2%, and from 2017 to 2023 −6%; the median compared French town changed +5% and the median Meuse town −8%.
Half of Chalaines is over 48.9, older than 79% 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
■ Chalaines 48.9. The median compared French town: 44.
On the census count, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Meuse 52.5%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 7%, a lower share than 90% 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 Meuse median and the France median
Living alone · share
Set against 35% in the typical compared French town, 37% of households are one person living alone in Chalaines. As a yardstick, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Each household has 2.1 people on average. Couples with children are rarer here than in just over half of compared French towns.
4.4% of homes are second homes, more than in 73% 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
Turnover: 6.4% of households moved in less than two years ago, and 33% have lived in their home 30 years or more. 12% of households have no car, a higher share than in 55% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €24,950 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €24,950 a year: lower than in 61% of compared French towns.
Chalaines sits above 85% of compared French towns for households headed by a manual worker (20%)
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
Nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, against 7.2% in Chalaines. The share of households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town is 14%. Put another way, about one in three: 37% 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).
Fewer immigrants than 95% of compared French towns: 1.7%
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 Meuse has 7.3%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 95% of compared French towns. The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%. Foreign nationals make up about one in 100 here (1%).
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Above 81% of compared French towns: 47% of residents 15 and over are married
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
25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town, against 23% in Chalaines. Married residents: 43% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Only 20% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Chalaines
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
Just over a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). For comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 15th oldest of 41 French towns of 299 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.
Chalaines and its 6 nearest towns: 1 of them are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chalaines | 48.9 | 28% | 4.4% | 1.7% |
| Foug 2,628 · 7.4 mi | 45.7 | 25% | 0.8% | 5.3% |
| Écrouves 4,474 · 9.6 mi | 36.7 | 15% | 0.9% | 4.2% |
| Toul 15,768 · 10.8 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 1.6% | 10% |
| Commercy 5,350 · 11.8 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 1.9% | 9.4% |
| Gondreville 2,635 · 14.4 mi | 47.4 | 20% | 0.8% | 3.1% |
| Neufchâteau 6,732 · 17 mi | 49.9 | 29% | 2.2% | 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 Chalaines
What is the population of Chalaines?
299 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 8% fewer than in 2012 (326).
How old are Chalaines’ residents?
The median age is 48.9, older than 79% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chalaines?
7, with occasional dwellings: 4.4% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chalaines?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.7% of residents, and 3 foreign nationals (1%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chalaines?
€24,950 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.