Half of Gençay is over 56.5, older than 96% of compared French towns
32% of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town, against 50% in Gençay. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 45%, more than in 84% of compared French towns. This Vienne town counted 1,653 residents and 840 households at the 2023 Census. Put another way, about one in seven: 15% of homes are flats.
Throughout this page, the Vienne 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 Gençay
An older town
Half of Gençay’s residents are under 56.5 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 37% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 16% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Empty homes
The census found 140 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Gençay had 1,735 residents at the 2012 census and 1,653 in 2023, down 5%: slower growth than in 87% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Slower than most: −5% since 2012, behind 87% 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
Here the change came as ±0% to 2017, then −5% to 2023.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 37% in Gençay, more than in 96% 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
■ Gençay 56.5. The median compared French town: 44.
The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.2% in Gençay and 11% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 22% of residents are 65 or over.
Women and men · all residents
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Vienne 52.1%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Below 93% of compared French towns: 14% of households are couples with children
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 Vienne median and the France median
Living alone · share
Average household size: 1.9 people. Single-parent households are rarer here than in 69% of compared French towns. For comparison, a quarter of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town.
More empty homes than 94% of compared French towns: 14%
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
20% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 13% moved in within the last two years. In the typical compared French town, the share of empty homes is 6.7%. Households without a car are more common here than in nearly two thirds of compared French towns. Little separates the share of second homes here, 2.6%, from the figure in the typical compared French town.
The median resident lives on €24,270 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.
At €24,270 a year per consumption unit, the median standard of living here is lower than in 68% of compared French towns.
A lower share of households headed by a manual worker than 72% of compared French towns, at 11%
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
9.4% of households are headed by a manager or professional in the typical compared French town, against 7.7% in Gençay. Households headed by a manual worker: 14% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Gençay ranks below 85% of compared French towns on immigrants: 2.7%
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.
2.2% of residents are foreign nationals, against 4.3% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 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.
Gençay ranks below 76% of compared French towns on single residents: 22%
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
Across Gençay, 43% of residents 15 and over are married. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
In Gençay, 28% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 86% 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
The share of graduates of higher education is 24%, against 30% in the typical compared French town. Measured more widely, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
The 5th oldest of 41 French towns of 1,653 to 2,582 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 37.2 in Villejust to 62.3 in Prayssac.
No nearby town is as old as Gençay
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gençay | 56.5 | 37% | 2.6% | 2.7% |
| Vivonne 4,550 · 8.1 mi | 41 | 21% | 2.9% | 5.1% |
| Nieuil-l'Espoir 2,631 · 8.5 mi | 45.1 | 21% | 0.7% | 1.9% |
| Nouaillé-Maupertuis 2,975 · 9.4 mi | 46.1 | 23% | 1.9% | 1.9% |
| Iteuil 2,989 · 9.5 mi | 46.3 | 23% | 2% | 2.3% |
| Smarves 2,941 · 10.2 mi | 47.1 | 27% | 1.9% | 2% |
| Valence-en-Poitou 4,325 · 10.6 mi | 47.2 | 26% | 7.7% | 2.8% |
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 Gençay
What is the population of Gençay?
1,653 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (1,735).
How old are Gençay’s residents?
The median age is 56.5, older than 96% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 37% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Gençay?
26, with occasional dwellings: 2.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Gençay?
INSEE counts 45 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.7% of residents, and 36 foreign nationals (2.2%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Gençay?
€24,270 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.