Older than 98% of compared French towns: half of Surgy is over 59.3
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Across Surgy, 9.7% of households are couples with children. The town counted 335 residents and 200 households at the 2023 Census. 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, against 3.5% here.
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 Surgy
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 57 second homes and occasional dwellings in Surgy, 19% of its 290 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 98% 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 Surgy’s residents are under 59.3 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 37% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 12% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Surgy had 420 residents at the 2012 census and 335 in 2023, down 20%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
50% of Surgy’s households are one person: higher than in 93% of compared French towns; 43% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
19% of homes are second homes, a share 93% 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
Set against 11% in the typical compared French town, 13% of households have no car in Surgy. More empty homes than in 94% of compared French towns: 14%. Measured more widely, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. 31% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 5.7% moved in within the last two years.
−20% since 2012, a pace below 99% 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
The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Nièvre town −8%. The change was −22% from 2012 to 2017 and +2% from 2017 to 2023.
Surgy ranks above 96% of compared French towns on residents aged 65 and over: 37%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Surgy 59.3. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (8.1%), Surgy is below 92% of compared French towns. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Nièvre 53.7%, France 51.8%.
Surgy: 18% of households are single parents, above 99% 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
The share of one-person households tops 93% of compared French towns: 50%. Set beside that, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. The average household has 1.7 people.
€25,530 a year: the median standard of living
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 residents live in households above €25,530 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 54% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 99% of compared French towns: 57%
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, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional; in Surgy, 7.6%. On households headed by a manual worker, Surgy sits higher than 84% of compared French towns: 20%. Measured more widely, 32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
1.5% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 96% 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.
0.6% of residents are foreign nationals; in the typical compared French town the figure is 4.3%. As a yardstick, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents make up 21% in Surgy, less than in 87% 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
Married people make up 40% and PACS partners 3.1%, against 43% and 6.1% in the median compared French town; 17% are widowed. In the typical compared French town, 25% of residents 15 and over are single.
A smaller share of graduates of higher education than 89% of compared French towns: 19%
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
The share of adults with no qualification tops 73% of compared French towns: 24%. Against that, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 335 to 2,582 people: this is the 4th 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.
Surgy 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surgy | 59.3 | 37% | 19% | 1.5% |
| Clamecy 3,544 · 3.2 mi | 49.8 | 31% | 6.8% | 11% |
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 Surgy
What is the population of Surgy?
335 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% fewer than in 2012 (420).
How old are Surgy’s residents?
The median age is 59.3, older than 98% of compared French towns. 12% are under 18 and 37% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Surgy?
57, with occasional dwellings: 19% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Surgy?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.5% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Surgy?
€25,530 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.