Sermages is older than 94% of compared French towns: a median age of 54.8
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. For Sermages, the census puts flats at 1%. 16% of households are couples with children; in the typical compared French town the figure is 25%.
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 Sermages
One home in three is a second home
The census counted 57 second homes and occasional dwellings in Sermages, 29% of its 190 homes: higher than in 95% 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 Sermages’ residents are under 54.8 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 38 homes empty (19%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Sermages had 204 residents at the 2012 census and 189 in 2023, down 7%: slower growth than in 94% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
29% of homes in Sermages are second homes
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
In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%; Sermages has 19%. For Sermages, the census puts households without a car at 8.1%. Typically, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Since 2012, Sermages has changed by −7%, slower than 94% 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 the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Nièvre town −8%.
33% of residents are 65 or over, a share 92% of compared French towns don’t reach
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Sermages 54.8. The median compared French town: 44.
8.8% of residents are 15 to 24, against 11% in the typical compared French town. As a yardstick, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nièvre 53.7%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Sermages ranks above 78% of compared French towns on one-person households: 42%
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. One-person households make up 35% in the typical compared French town. About one in ten: that is how common single-parent households are in Sermages (10%).
A median of €24,860 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.
The midpoint of living standards here is €24,860 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 62% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person make up 37% in Sermages, more than in 74% 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
The share of households headed by a manager or professional is 11%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Typically, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Households headed by a manual worker: 10% of the total.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
A lower share of foreign nationals than 99% of compared French towns, at 0.5%
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.
6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town, against 3.7% in Sermages. That is lower than in 76% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Nièvre has 5.9%. In the typical compared French town, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
In Sermages, 45% of residents 15 and over are married, more than in 62% 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
Put another way, about one in four: 25% of residents 15 and over are single. Married residents make up 43% in the typical compared French town.
Only 15% of adults out of school have no qualification in Sermages
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
By its share of graduates of higher education (24%), Sermages is below 72% of compared French towns. As a reference point, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 189 to 2,582 people, the 7th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
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 Sermages
What is the population of Sermages?
189 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% fewer than in 2012 (204).
How old are Sermages’ residents?
The median age is 54.8, older than 94% of compared French towns. 15% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Sermages?
57, with occasional dwellings: 29% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Sermages?
INSEE counts 7 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.7% of residents, and 1 foreign nationals (0.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Sermages?
€24,860 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.