A median age of 52.5: Challans is older than 90% of compared French towns
46% of households are headed by a retired person; in the typical compared French town the figure is 32%. Lower than in 80% of compared French towns: 19% of households are couples with children. Challans had 22,943 residents in 11,290 households at the 2023 Census. Households in social housing make up about one in 15 here (6.6%).
Throughout this page, the Vendée 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 Challans
An older town
Half of Challans’ residents are under 52.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 33% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 9.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Growing fast
Challans had 19,107 residents at the 2012 census and 22,943 in 2023, up 20%: faster growth than in 90% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A +20% change since 2012: faster than 90% 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 Vendée town +9%. The years 2012 to 2017 brought +8%; 2017 to 2023, +11%.
More residents aged 65 and over than 91% of compared French towns: 33%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Challans 52.5. The median compared French town: 44.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.2%, against 11% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households make up 40% in Challans, more than in 68% 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 Vendée median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2 people. At 8.2%, the share of single-parent households is lower than in 78% of compared French towns. Typically, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
A lower share of flats than 62% of compared French towns, at 23%
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
At 3%, the share of second homes is in line with the figure in the typical compared French town. Compared with other places, empty homes are scarce here: 6.3%, fewer than in 56% of compared French towns. Set beside that, 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town. Households without a car account for 11%.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €25,830 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.
The median standard of living in Challans is €25,830 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 51% of compared French towns. The poverty rate is 10.4%.
Households headed by a manager or professional: 6.4%, a lower share than 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
Put another way, about one in seven: 14% of households are headed by a manual worker. Across the comparison, 9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
In Challans, 2.9% of residents are immigrants, fewer than in 83% 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.
1.7% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The median compared commune in Vendée has 2.1%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 83% of compared French towns. By way of 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.
Challans ranks below 82% of compared French towns on single residents: 21%
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
47% of residents 15 and over are married (typical compared French town: 43%). For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
In Challans, 22% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, fewer than in 81% 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
Adults with no qualification: 24%, above 72% of compared French towns. The comparison figure for graduates of higher education is 30% in the typical compared French town.
The oldest of 41 French towns of 21,996 to 23,843 people
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 33 in Loos to 52.5 in Challans.
Median age: 1 of the 6 towns around Challans 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Challans | 52.5 | 33% | 3% | 2.9% |
| Soullans 4,654 · 3.1 mi | 53.5 | 31% | 7.3% | 1.7% |
| Sallertaine 3,518 · 3.3 mi | 47.2 | 25% | 8.3% | 1.6% |
| La Garnache 5,515 · 4.2 mi | 44.2 | 21% | 2.5% | 1.4% |
| Saint-Christophe-du-Ligneron 2,727 · 5.8 mi | 42.8 | 21% | 2.9% | 2.2% |
| Commequiers 3,735 · 5.8 mi | 46.9 | 26% | 7.9% | 2.2% |
| Saint-Gervais 2,781 · 7.2 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 9.3% | 1.4% |
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 Challans
What is the population of Challans?
22,943 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 20% more than in 2012 (19,107).
How old are Challans’ residents?
The median age is 52.5, older than 90% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 33% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Challans?
370, with occasional dwellings: 3% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Challans?
INSEE counts 660 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.9% of residents, and 390 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Challans?
€25,830 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 10.4% 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 October 30, 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.