Cours ranks above 99% of compared French towns on empty homes: 19%
Set against 14% in the typical compared French town, 20% of households are headed by a manual worker in Cours. About one in 17: that is how common second homes are in Cours (5.8%). This Rhône town has fewer residents aged 15 to 24 than four fifths of compared French towns, at 9.1%. The 2023 Census put the town’s population at 4,306, in 2,050 households.
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 Cours
Empty homes
The census found 510 homes empty (19%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Cours had 4,624 residents at the 2012 census and 4,306 in 2023, down 7%: slower growth than in 93% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Cours’ residents are under 51.1 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 31% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 10% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Since 2012, Cours has changed by −7%, slower than 93% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and +10% for the median Rhône town, the change came in two steps: −4% from 2012 to 2017, then −3% to 2023.
A median age of 51.1: Cours is older than 87% of compared French towns
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Cours 51.1. The median compared French town: 44.
In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over; in Cours, 31%.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Rhône 51.5%, France 51.8%.
Couples with children: 19%, a lower share than 80% 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
The share of one-person households tops 74% of compared French towns: 41%. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 65% of compared French towns. For couples with children, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%. On average, 2 people share a household.
Cours ranks above 68% of compared French towns on households without a car: 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
Where just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Cours has 8.8%. In the typical compared French town, the share of households without a car is 11%. Roughly three in ten: 32% of homes are flats.
A median of €24,110 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.
Living standards centre on €24,110 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 70% of compared French towns. Poverty touches 15.0% of residents.
Above 94% of compared French towns: 46% of households are headed by a retired person
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 figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 4.2% in Cours and 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.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Cours ranks below 66% of compared French towns on immigrants: 4.7%
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 median compared commune in Rhône has 8.2%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 66% of compared French towns. Across the comparison, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. 4% of residents are foreign nationals, or about one in 25.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
More married residents than 52% of compared French towns: 43%
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
Single residents make up about one in four here (25%).
Only 18% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Cours
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
Here 29% of adults out of school have no qualification, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 19%. By way of comparison, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 4,268 to 4,344 people: this is the 3rd 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.
Tigery is the youngest (33.7); Courseulles-sur-Mer the oldest (65.3).
Around Cours, 2 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cours | 51.1 | 31% | 5.8% | 4.7% |
| Thizy-les-Bourgs 5,771 · 4.3 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 4% | 6.6% |
| Chauffailles 3,638 · 7.3 mi | 58.1 | 39% | 6.3% | 6% |
| Charlieu 3,766 · 8.6 mi | 50.4 | 32% | 7.2% | 4.1% |
| Amplepuis 4,876 · 8.8 mi | 49.2 | 27% | 3.1% | 7.8% |
| Pouilly-sous-Charlieu 2,588 · 10.6 mi | 49.2 | 28% | 1.2% | 5.1% |
| Mably 7,233 · 12.7 mi | 52.2 | 32% | 0.8% | 7.8% |
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 Cours
What is the population of Cours?
4,306 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 7% fewer than in 2012 (4,624).
How old are Cours’ residents?
The median age is 51.1, older than 87% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 31% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cours?
160, with occasional dwellings: 5.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cours?
INSEE counts 200 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 4.7% of residents, and 170 foreign nationals (4%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cours?
€24,110 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 15.0% of residents live below the poverty line. 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.