A lower share of flats than 97% of compared French towns, at 4.4%
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 3.9%, against 9.4% in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households account for 5.9%. Chanu has fewer households in social housing than 84% of compared French towns, at 5.4%. Census day 2023: 1,243 residents and 510 households locally.
Throughout this page, the Orne 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.
From 2012 to 2023, 80% of compared French towns grew faster than Chanu: −3%
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 Orne town changed −5% and the median compared French town +5%; here the first five years brought −2% and the next six −1%.
Older than 84% of compared French towns: half of Chanu is over 50.1
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chanu 50.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 30%, above 85% of compared French towns. The census found that one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in Chanu.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Orne 52.7%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fewer one-person households than 83% of compared French towns: 28%
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 Orne median and the France median
Living alone · share
On average, 2.3 people share a household. To put it in context, 35% of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. At 25%, the share of couples with children is higher than in just over half of compared French towns.
7.1% of homes are second homes, more than in 83% of compared French towns
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
Of all households, 6.6% moved in during the last two years and 31% have stayed three decades or more. 9.4% of homes stand empty, a higher share than in 75% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Households without a car: 7.4%, below 70% of compared French towns.
The median resident lives on €23,840 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.
Half of residents live in households above €23,840 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is lower than in 73% of compared French towns.
A larger share of households headed by a retired person than 81% of compared French towns: 39%
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
Set against 14% in the typical compared French town, 16% of households are headed by a manual worker in Chanu. To put it in context, 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).
Fewer immigrants than 86% of compared French towns: 2.6%
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 share of foreign nationals is 2.2%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 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.
Only 20% of residents 15 and over are single in Chanu
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 Chanu comes in at 47%. The wider picture: 25% of residents 15 and over are single in the typical compared French town.
More adults with no qualification than 95% of compared French towns: 32%
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
18% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). On average, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,243 to 2,582 people: this is the 14th 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).
Older than Chanu: 2 of the 6 towns nearby
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chanu | 50.1 | 30% | 7.1% | 2.6% |
| Tinchebray-Bocage 4,813 · 2.8 mi | 49.6 | 29% | 8.3% | 3.6% |
| Flers 14,432 · 5.1 mi | 47.8 | 28% | 2.4% | 13% |
| Saint-Georges-des-Groseillers 3,173 · 5.4 mi | 55.2 | 34% | 1.8% | 3.9% |
| Domfront en Poiraie 4,113 · 9.6 mi | 57.7 | 36% | 6% | 4.6% |
| Valdallière 5,696 · 9.8 mi | 45.8 | 23% | 7.4% | 2.8% |
| Athis-Val de Rouvre 4,201 · 10.3 mi | 49 | 27% | 9.4% | 1.9% |
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 Chanu
What is the population of Chanu?
1,243 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% fewer than in 2012 (1,277).
How old are Chanu’s residents?
The median age is 50.1, older than 84% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chanu?
44, with occasional dwellings: 7.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chanu?
INSEE counts 32 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.6% of residents, and 27 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chanu?
€23,840 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 4, 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.