Below 99% of compared French towns: 1.5% of households have no car
The figure for residents aged 65 and over is 18% in Chelles and 22% in the typical compared French town. The town had 471 residents in 180 households at the 2023 Census. Nearly one in ten households are headed by a manual worker, or about one in 11. At 7.4%, the share of empty homes is higher than in 57% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Oise 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 Chelles
One home in seven is a second home
The census counted 36 second homes and occasional dwellings in Chelles, 15% of its 240 homes: higher than in 91% of compared French towns. 97% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
A town of families
36% of households are couples with children and 5.4% single parents with children; 17% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 91% of compared French towns: 15%
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
Flats are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. Second homes: 2.1% in the typical compared French town, for comparison. 2.6% of households moved in less than two years ago; 21% have been in their home 30 years or more.
Slower growth than 82% of compared French towns: Chelles changed by −3% since 2012
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 +4%; from 2017 to 2023, −7%. Over the same years the median compared French town changed +5%, the median Oise town +2%.
Older than 69% of compared French towns: half of Chelles is over 47
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chelles 47. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 11%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 116 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Oise 51.7%, France 51.8%.
In Chelles, 17% of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 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 Oise median and the France median
Living alone · share
The share of single-parent households is 5.4%, against 10% in the typical compared French town. Couples with children are more common here than in 95% of compared French towns. As a yardstick, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
A median standard of living of €29,900 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.
Living standards centre on €29,900 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 84% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a retired person make up 25% in Chelles, less than in 83% 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 13%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of households headed by a retired person is 32%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Chelles sits below 70% of compared French towns for immigrants (4.4%)
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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Chelles comes in at 2.8%. The wider picture: 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.
A lower share of single residents than 95% of compared French towns, at 19%
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
Against a figure of 43% in the typical compared French town, the share of married residents in Chelles comes in at 49%. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Only 13% of adults out of school have no qualification in Chelles
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
Graduates of higher education make up 36%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. To put it in context, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 471 to 2,582 people: this is the 15th 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).
No nearby town is as old as Chelles
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelles | 47 | 18% | 15% | 4.4% |
| Villers-Cotterêts 10,489 · 7.3 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 1.3% | 12% |
| Choisy-au-Bac 3,449 · 9.4 mi | 44.9 | 25% | 2.3% | 6.6% |
| Compiègne 40,761 · 10.7 mi | 37.6 | 19% | 2.2% | 17% |
| Crépy-en-Valois 14,351 · 10.8 mi | 44.8 | 22% | 1.4% | 11% |
| Margny-lès-Compiègne 8,677 · 11.1 mi | 37.8 | 16% | 2% | 14% |
| Béthisy-Saint-Pierre 3,111 · 11.2 mi | 41 | 19% | 1.1% | 3.5% |
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 Chelles
What is the population of Chelles?
471 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (486).
How old are Chelles’ residents?
The median age is 47, older than 69% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 18% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chelles?
36, with occasional dwellings: 15% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chelles?
INSEE counts 20 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.4% of residents, and 13 foreign nationals (2.8%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chelles?
€29,900 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 October 30, 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.