5.2% of homes are flats, below 95% of compared French towns
Where just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town, Changé has 25%. The census found that 4.3% of households have no car here. This Sarthe town has more households headed by a manager or professional than 73% of compared French towns, at 14%. At the 2023 Census, 6,911 people lived here, in 2,820 households.
Throughout this page, the Sarthe 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.
Changé grew +9% from 2012 to 2023, faster than 66% 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 years 2012 to 2017 brought +3%; 2017 to 2023, +6%. Over the whole period the median compared French town changed +5%, and the median Sarthe town ±0%.
Changé is older than 63% of compared French towns: a median age of 45.9
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Changé 45.9. The median compared French town: 44.
By its share of residents aged 15 to 24 (10%), Changé is below 61% of compared French towns. Residents aged 65 and over make up about one in five here (22%).
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Sarthe 51.6%, France 51.8%.
Changé sits above 81% of compared French towns for couples with children (31%)
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 Sarthe median and the France median
Living alone · share
Where one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town, Changé has 7.2%. Each household has 2.4 people on average. In the typical compared French town, the share of couples with children is 25%.
A smaller share of households in social housing than 69% of compared French towns: 8.4%
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
Empty homes: 4.8% here and 6.7% in the typical compared French town. The usual figure: just over one in ten households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town. 8.8% of households arrived within the last two years, while 22% have stayed 30 years or more. On second homes, Changé sits lower than 55% of compared French towns: 1.8%.
Median standard of living: €28,860 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.
Per consumption unit, half of residents live on more than €28,860 a year: higher than in 77% of compared French towns. One measure of hardship: 7.0% of residents are below the poverty line.
11% of households are headed by a manual worker, below 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
By its share of households headed by a retired person (35%), Changé is above 64% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Changé ranks below 91% of compared French towns on foreign nationals: 1.2%
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 Sarthe has 2.8%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 83% of compared French towns. For comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals in the typical compared French town. 2.9% of residents are immigrants, or about one in 34.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
Single residents: 19%, a lower share than 95% 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 residents: 51% here and 43% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
Below 66% of compared French towns: 16% of adults out of school have no qualification
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
A third of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification (typical compared French town: 30%). The usual figure: nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
Among 41 French towns of 6,835 to 6,988 people, the 10th 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.
Bailly-Romainvilliers is the youngest (34.9); Le Coteau the oldest (54.7).
Older than Changé: 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changé | 45.9 | 22% | 1.8% | 2.9% |
| Yvré-l'Évêque 4,181 · 2.7 mi | 51.6 | 30% | 2% | 2.7% |
| Ruaudin 3,481 · 2.8 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 1.1% | 1.9% |
| Champagné 3,666 · 3.3 mi | 39.1 | 16% | 1.8% | 2.8% |
| Le Mans 146,249 · 4.1 mi | 40.4 | 22% | 3.4% | 12% |
| Sargé-lès-le-Mans 3,851 · 4.3 mi | 50.7 | 28% | 1% | 3% |
| Parigné-l'Évêque 5,358 · 4.5 mi | 45.1 | 24% | 2.9% | 1.7% |
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 Changé
What is the population of Changé?
6,911 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% more than in 2012 (6,340).
How old are Changé’s residents?
The median age is 45.9, older than 63% of compared French towns. 23% are under 18 and 22% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Changé?
55, with occasional dwellings: 1.8% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Changé?
INSEE counts 200 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.9% of residents, and 84 foreign nationals (1.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Changé?
€28,860 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 7.0% 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.