Cheffois ranks below 99% of compared French towns on flats: 1.7%
26% of households are one person living alone (typical compared French town: 35%). Cheffois had 1,009 residents in 410 households at the 2023 census. Locally, 4.7% of households have no car. Households headed by a manual worker are more common here than in 97% of compared French towns.
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 Cheffois
A town of families
34% of households are couples with children and 4.9% single parents with children; 21% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 58% of compared French towns grew faster than Cheffois: +3%
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 ±0%; 2017 to 2023, +3%.
Fewer residents aged 65 and over than 82% of compared French towns: 17%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Cheffois 41.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over one in ten residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town, against 10% in Cheffois. The median age in the town is 41.3, lower than in 70% of compared French towns. On average, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vendée 50.9%, France 51.8%.
More couples with children than 91% of compared French towns: 34%
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
Set against 10% in the typical compared French town, 4.9% of households are single parents in Cheffois. Elsewhere, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town. Average household size: 2.5 people.
Only 3% of households rent social housing (HLM) in Cheffois
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
Long tenure is the mark of 29% of households (30 years or more), short tenure of 8.4% (under two years). 6.2% of homes are second homes, more than in 81% of compared French towns. The benchmark for households in social housing in the typical compared French town: 12%. At 7.4%, empty homes sit close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Half of residents have a standard of living above €25,610 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 midpoint of living standards here is €25,610 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 53% of compared French towns.
30% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 65% 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
8.6% of households are headed by a manager or professional. As a reference point, 32% 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).
Immigrants make up 2% in Cheffois, less than in 92% 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.
0.7% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. 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.
A larger share of married residents than 99% of compared French towns: 57%
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
Against a figure of 25% in the typical compared French town, the share of single residents in Cheffois comes in at 20%. In the typical compared French town, married residents come to 43%.
Below 75% of compared French towns: 23% of adults out of school hold a higher-education 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
Adults with no qualification: 18% of the total. As a reference point, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 1,009 to 2,582 people: this is the 6th 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Cheffois is younger than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheffois | 41.3 | 17% | 6.2% | 2% |
| La Châtaigneraie 2,600 · 2.7 mi | 55.1 | 35% | 3.1% | 4.5% |
| Pouzauges 5,668 · 7.9 mi | 46.3 | 23% | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre 5,121 · 10.1 mi | 48.3 | 27% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Le Boupère 3,151 · 10.8 mi | 44 | 23% | 4.4% | 1.3% |
| Sèvremont 6,385 · 11.8 mi | 43.4 | 21% | 5% | 2.1% |
| Cerizay 4,793 · 11.9 mi | 46.8 | 26% | 1.4% | 15% |
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 Cheffois
What is the population of Cheffois?
1,009 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 3% more than in 2012 (981).
How old are Cheffois’ residents?
The median age is 41.3, younger than 70% of compared French towns. 27% are under 18 and 17% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cheffois?
29, with occasional dwellings: 6.2% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cheffois?
INSEE counts 20 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2% of residents, and 7 foreign nationals (0.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cheffois?
€25,610 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.