33% of households are couples with children, more than in 88% of compared French towns
Half of Chars’s residents are under 40.8, younger than in 74% of compared French towns. This Val-d'Oise town is home to 2,006 residents in 780 households, by the 2023 Census. Households headed by a retired person make up about one in four here (27%). With households in social housing at 9%, Chars is behind nearly two thirds of compared French towns on that count.
Throughout this page, the Val-d'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.
A change of +4% since 2012 leaves Chars behind 55% 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 change was +9% from 2012 to 2017 and −5% from 2017 to 2023.
Below 83% of compared French towns: 17% of residents are 65 or over
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Chars 40.8. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24: 12% here and 11% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Median share of women: Val-d'Oise 51.5%, France 51.8%.
In Chars, 13% of households are single parents, more than in 85% 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 Val-d'Oise median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 2.5 people. On one-person households, Chars sits lower than 67% of compared French towns: 32%. The share of single-parent households in the typical compared French town is 10%.
Fewer flats than 66% of compared French towns: 21%
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
Some 8.2% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 16% who have been there 30 years or more. The share of empty homes stands at 8.8%. Few places have as many second homes: 2.3% here, more than in 53% of compared French towns.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €28,680 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 €28,680 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 76% of compared French towns.
Chars: 12% of households are headed by a manager or professional, above 62% 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 census found that 13% of households are headed by a manual worker in Chars. The comparison figure for households headed by a manager or professional is 9.4% in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 8.8% in Chars, more than in 65% of compared French towns
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.
Foreign nationals make up 6.2%, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. For immigrants, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A higher share of single residents than 83% of compared French towns, at 31%
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 make up 41%, against 43% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, single residents come to 25%.
Chars: 32% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, above 58% of compared French towns
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
Nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification, a lower share than in 52% of compared French towns. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
Among 41 French towns of 2,006 to 2,582 people, the 4th youngest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Median age: 2 of the 6 towns around Chars 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chars | 40.8 | 17% | 2.3% | 8.8% |
| Marines 3,594 · 2.2 mi | 39.7 | 17% | 1.9% | 6.4% |
| Magny-en-Vexin 5,779 · 6.6 mi | 41.6 | 18% | 1.5% | 11% |
| Chaumont-en-Vexin 3,338 · 7.8 mi | 44.2 | 25% | 3.4% | 7.5% |
| Courdimanche 7,311 · 8.5 mi | 36 | 9.6% | 0.7% | 17% |
| Osny 17,954 · 8.7 mi | 38.6 | 17% | 0.9% | 18% |
| Cergy 70,906 · 9.2 mi | 30.4 | 9.1% | 4.4% | 30% |
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 Chars
What is the population of Chars?
2,006 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% more than in 2012 (1,935).
How old are Chars’ residents?
The median age is 40.8, younger than 74% of compared French towns. 24% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chars?
20, with occasional dwellings: 2.3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chars?
INSEE counts 180 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.8% of residents, and 120 foreign nationals (6.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chars?
€28,680 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.