44% of homes are second homes, more than in 97% of compared French towns
With households headed by a retired person at 57%, Poil is ahead of 99% of compared French towns on that count. Higher than in 79% of compared French towns: 43% of households are one person living alone. The 2023 Census counted 152 residents in 73 households. Census figures put flats at 2.5% in the 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 Poil
One home in two is a second home
The census counted 70 second homes and occasional dwellings in Poil, 44% of its 160 homes: higher than in 97% 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 Poil’s residents are under 53.4 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.2% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
10% of homes stand empty, a share 79% of compared French towns don’t reach
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. Across the comparison, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Of all households, 9.6% moved in during the last two years and 15% have stayed three decades or more.
A change of −1% since 2012 leaves Poil behind 72% 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 change was −10%; from 2017 to 2023, +10%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Nièvre town −8%.
A median age of 53.4: Poil is older than 91% 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
■ Poil 53.4. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 29%, above 83% of compared French towns. Here, 9.2% of residents are 15 to 24.
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%.
21% of households are couples with children, below 68% 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
Each household has 2.1 people on average. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
Median living standard: €23,590 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.
At €23,590 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 76% of compared French towns.
7.1% of households are headed by a manual worker, below 90% 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
In the typical compared French town, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional; in Poil, 7.1%. The usual figure: 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).
More foreign nationals than 79% of compared French towns: 9.2%
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.
The figure for immigrants is 8.6% in Poil and 6.5% in the typical compared French town. The share of foreign nationals in the typical compared French town is 4.3%. The median compared commune in Nièvre has 5.9%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 63% 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.
A higher share of married residents than 99% of compared French towns, at 60%
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
Set against 25% in the typical compared French town, 24% of residents 15 and over are single in Poil. The share of married residents in the typical compared French town is 43%.
A higher share of adults with no qualification than 74% 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
Locally, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification. Across the comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
7th highest median age among 41 French towns of 152 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).
Poil and the towns around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poil | 53.4 | 29% | 44% | 8.6% |
| Autun 13,172 · 12.7 mi | 51.7 | 31% | 3.4% | 13% |
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 Poil
What is the population of Poil?
152 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (153).
How old are Poil’s residents?
The median age is 53.4, older than 91% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Poil?
70, with occasional dwellings: 44% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Poil?
INSEE counts 13 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.6% of residents, and 14 foreign nationals (9.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Poil?
€23,590 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.