0.7% of homes are flats, fewer than in 99% of compared French towns
Where one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Nolay has 5.7%. For Nolay, the census puts households without a car at 2.9%. 40% of households are headed by a retired person, a higher share than in 84% of compared French towns. This Nièvre town counted 353 residents and 170 households at the 2023 Census.
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 Nolay
One home in four is a second home
The census counted 73 second homes and occasional dwellings in Nolay, 25% of its 290 homes: higher than in 94% 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 ↓
An older town
Half of Nolay’s residents are under 52.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 7.3% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 46 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Nolay ranks above 94% of compared French towns on second homes: 25%
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
Long tenure is the mark of 32% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 8% (under two years). More empty homes than in 96% of compared French towns: 16%. The benchmark for second homes in the typical compared French town: 2.1%.
Nolay’s population moved −4% on 2012, less than in 83% 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 Nièvre town changed −8% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −2%, then −1% to 2023.
Half of Nolay is over 52.4, 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
■ Nolay 52.4. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 trails 87% of compared French towns: 8.6%. About one in three: that is how common residents aged 65 and over are in Nolay (31%).
Women and men · all residents
45% women, 55% men
About 122 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nièvre 53.7%, France 51.8%.
Fewer couples with children than 76% of compared French towns: 20%
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
A household here holds 2 people on average. On one-person households, Nolay sits higher than 71% of compared French towns: 40%. Couples with children make up 25% in the typical compared French town.
A median standard of living of €25,640 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 Nolay’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €25,640 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 53% of compared French towns.
Nolay: 17% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 69% 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. On average, 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).
Below 66% of compared French towns: 4.7% of residents are immigrants
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 about one in 28 here (3.6%). The share of immigrants in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Nolay ranks below 89% of compared French towns on single residents: 20%
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 married residents is 46%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 71% of compared French towns, at 24%
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
Where nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, Nolay has 17%. For graduates of higher education, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 30%.
Among 41 French towns of 353 to 2,582 people, the 8th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
1 of 6 neighbors are older than Nolay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nolay | 52.4 | 31% | 25% | 4.7% |
| Guérigny 2,505 · 6.4 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 2.8% | 1.5% |
| Coulanges-lès-Nevers 3,688 · 10.5 mi | 51.8 | 32% | 1.6% | 4.6% |
| Varennes-Vauzelles 9,146 · 11 mi | 53.7 | 34% | 1.1% | 6.1% |
| Nevers 33,085 · 12 mi | 45.5 | 26% | 3.5% | 14% |
| Garchizy 3,648 · 12.3 mi | 45 | 23% | 1.4% | 3.9% |
| Fourchambault 3,992 · 13.3 mi | 49.3 | 27% | 1.2% | 6.3% |
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 Nolay
What is the population of Nolay?
353 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (366).
How old are Nolay’s residents?
The median age is 52.4, older than 90% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Nolay?
73, with occasional dwellings: 25% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Nolay?
INSEE counts 17 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.7% of residents, and 13 foreign nationals (3.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Nolay?
€25,640 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.