A lower share of flats than 99% of compared French towns, at 1.8%
0.4% of households rent social housing (HLM) (typical compared French town: 12%). Dornecy is home to 451 residents in 230 households, by the 2023 Census. Here, 44% of households are one person living alone. Lower than in 90% of compared French towns: 8.3% of residents are 15 to 24.
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 Dornecy
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 80 second homes and occasional dwellings in Dornecy, 20% of its 390 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 100% 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
Dornecy had 518 residents at the 2012 census and 451 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 78 homes empty (20%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Dornecy’s residents are under 52.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 32% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 8.1% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
20% of homes stand empty, more than in 99% 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
Households without a car make up 9.5%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Second homes are more common here than in 93% of compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 99% of compared French towns grew faster than Dornecy: −13%
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
In two steps, −7% to 2017 and −6% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −8% in Nièvre.
A median age of 52.4: Dornecy is older than 90% 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
■ Dornecy 52.4. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, the share of residents aged 65 and over is 22%; Dornecy has 32%.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 108 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nièvre 53.7%, France 51.8%.
Dornecy sits below 89% of compared French towns for couples with children (16%)
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
The typical household size is 1.9 people. Higher than in 97% of compared French towns: 16% of households are single parents. As a yardstick, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
A typical living standard of €22,870 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.
Half of Dornecy’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €22,870 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 83% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a manager or professional than 99% of compared French towns: 2.2%
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 manual worker: 20%, above 83% of compared French towns. The census found that 44% of households are headed by a retired person in Dornecy. By way of comparison, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Fewer foreign nationals than 75% of compared French towns: 2.2%
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.
Immigrants make up 4.7%, against 6.5% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Nièvre has 5.9%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 66% 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.
Only 35% of residents 15 and over are married in Dornecy
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 share of single residents tops 70% of compared French towns: 28%. Against that, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
17% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 93% 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
19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, against 22% in Dornecy. The wider picture: 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
Ranked by age, 8th 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.
Dornecy is older than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Dornecy
What is the population of Dornecy?
451 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (518).
How old are Dornecy’s residents?
The median age is 52.4, older than 90% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 32% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Dornecy?
80, with occasional dwellings: 20% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Dornecy?
INSEE counts 21 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.7% of residents, and 10 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Dornecy?
€22,870 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 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.