A smaller share of flats than 99% of compared French towns: 0.8%
Half of Devay’s residents are over 50.1, older than in 83% of compared French towns. The town is home to 460 residents in 210 households, by the 2023 Census. The share of households without a car stands at 5.8%. Single-parent households: 7.1% here and 10% in the typical compared French town.
Throughout this page, the Nièvre 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 Devay
Fewer residents than in 2012
Devay had 504 residents at the 2012 census and 460 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 32 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Devay’s population moved −9% on 2012, less than in 96% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and −8% for the median Nièvre town, the change came in two steps: −2% from 2012 to 2017, then −7% to 2023.
Devay ranks above 73% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 26%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Devay 50.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Compared with 11% in the typical compared French town, 8.9% of residents are 15 to 24 here. To put it in context, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Nièvre 53.7%, France 51.8%.
In Devay, 29% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 83% 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 Nièvre median and the France median
Living alone · share
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children in Devay comes in at 29%. By way of comparison, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. The average household has 2.2 people.
More empty homes than 91% of compared French towns: 13%
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
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The benchmark for empty homes in the typical compared French town: 6.7%. Newcomers of less than two years account for 3.4% of households, residents of 30 years or more for 34%. One household in 17 has no car, against 11% in the median compared French town.
A median of €26,350 a year per consumption unit
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 €26,350 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is higher than in 54% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manual worker make up 19% in Devay, more than in 80% 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
Where nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, Devay has 7.1%. Few places have as many households headed by a retired person: 33% here, more than in 55% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Devay, 3.3% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 80% of compared French towns
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.
Foreign nationals make up 2%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Nièvre has 5.9%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in four fifths 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.
Married residents: 55%, a higher share than 99% 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
In Devay, 21% of residents 15 and over are single, beside 25% in the typical compared French town. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 85% of compared French towns: 20%
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
Higher than in 52% of compared French towns: 19% of adults out of school have no qualification. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
14th highest median age among 41 French towns of 460 to 2,582
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
No nearby town is as young as Devay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devay | 50.1 | 26% | 3.2% | 3.3% |
| Decize 4,932 · 4.2 mi | 56.7 | 37% | 5.3% | 4.3% |
| La Machine 3,192 · 7.1 mi | 54.8 | 35% | 6.2% | 4% |
| Imphy 3,182 · 15.7 mi | 51.3 | 31% | 2.6% | 6.5% |
| Bourbon-Lancy 4,674 · 16.3 mi | 57.2 | 39% | 14% | 4.3% |
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 Devay
What is the population of Devay?
460 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (504).
How old are Devay’s residents?
The median age is 50.1, older than 83% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 26% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Devay?
8, with occasional dwellings: 3.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Devay?
INSEE counts 15 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.3% of residents, and 9 foreign nationals (2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Devay?
€26,350 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 October 30, 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.