Chénas ranks below 99% of compared French towns on households without a car: 2.8%
Here 6.4% of homes are flats, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 30%. Chénas had 533 residents in 220 households at the 2023 census. Households in social housing account for 3.2%. Compared with other places, one-person households are scarce here: 28%, fewer than in 85% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Rhône 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 Chénas
One home in eight is a second home
The census counted 37 second homes and occasional dwellings in Chénas, 13% of its 290 homes: higher than in 90% 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 ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 90% of compared French towns: 13%
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
Here nearly one in ten homes stand empty, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 6.7%. Long tenure is the mark of 27% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 7.7% (under two years). Across the comparison, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
−1% since 2012, a pace below 74% 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 Rhône town +10%.
A lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 74% of compared French towns, at 9.4%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chénas 43.8. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over; in Chénas, 20%. As a yardstick, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town. With a median age of 43.8, Chénas is younger than 52% of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Rhône 51.5%, France 51.8%.
In Chénas, 32% of households are couples with children, more than in 82% 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 Rhône median and the France median
Living alone · share
By its share of single-parent households (8.9%), Chénas is below 69% of compared French towns. Against that, 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.4 people.
€28,740 a year is the median standard of living here
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 Chénas’ residents live in households with a standard of living below €28,740 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 77% of compared French towns.
Households headed by a manager or professional make up 6.4% in Chénas, less than in 73% 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
Here 30% of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. Put another way, about one in nine: just over one in ten households are headed by a manual worker. For households headed by a manager or professional, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 9.4%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Below 79% of compared French towns: 3.4% of residents are immigrants
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.
2.2% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Across the comparison, 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 18% in Chénas, less than in 98% 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
The figure for married residents is 51% in Chénas and 43% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Only 28% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Chénas
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
Fewer adults with no qualification than in 58% of compared French towns: 18%. The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
16th lowest median age among 41 French towns of 533 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.
Ages run from 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
Median age: 3 of the 6 towns around Chénas are older
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chénas | 43.8 | 20% | 13% | 3.4% |
| La Chapelle-de-Guinchay 4,018 · 2.1 mi | 42.8 | 19% | 3.1% | 4.4% |
| Crêches-sur-Saône 3,198 · 3.6 mi | 46.8 | 24% | 0.5% | 7.1% |
| Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne 2,934 · 5.4 mi | 44.3 | 22% | 3.6% | 3.7% |
| Belleville-en-Beaujolais 14,016 · 7.2 mi | 39.6 | 18% | 1.2% | 11% |
| Charnay-lès-Mâcon 8,227 · 7.6 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 2.9% | 6% |
| Mâcon 35,177 · 8.4 mi | 40.2 | 22% | 3.3% | 21% |
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 Chénas
What is the population of Chénas?
533 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 1% fewer than in 2012 (539).
How old are Chénas’ residents?
The median age is 43.8, younger than 52% of compared French towns. 21% are under 18 and 20% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chénas?
37, with occasional dwellings: 13% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chénas?
INSEE counts 18 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 3.4% of residents, and 12 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chénas?
€28,740 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.