Photo: Livioandronico2013 · CC BY-SA 4.0A smaller share of couples with children than 93% of compared French towns: 14%
By its share of flats (65%), Auxerre is above 87% of compared French towns. The town counted 35,097 residents and 18,300 households at the 2023 Census. For Auxerre, the census puts households without a car at 23%. Half are older than 44.1, older than 50% of compared French towns.
Throughout this page, the Yonne 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 Auxerre
Many people living alone
54% of Auxerre’s households are one person: higher than in 98% of compared French towns; 42% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Social housing
29% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 28% rent privately and 40% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 2,820 homes empty (13%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Auxerre changed by ±0% from 2012 to 2023, behind 70% 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 −1% from 2012 to 2017 and +1% from 2017 to 2023. The median compared French town changed +5% over the same years, the median Yonne town −4%.
Auxerre ranks above 83% of compared French towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 13%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Auxerre 44.1. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 65 and over: 24% here and 22% in the typical compared French town. Add to that, with a median age of 44.1, Auxerre is older than half of compared French towns.
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
One-person households: 54%, a higher share than 98% 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 Yonne median and the France median
Living alone · share
The typical household size is 1.8 people. 11% of households are single parents, a higher share than in 66% of compared French towns. The usual figure: just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town.
A higher share of households in social housing than 92% of compared French towns, at 29%
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
Compared with 6.7% in the typical compared French town, 13% of homes stand empty here. What’s more, on second homes, Auxerre sits higher than 63% of compared French towns: 3.1%. Set beside that, 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town.
The middle resident’s standard of living: €22,700 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 €22,700 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 84% of compared French towns. Living below the poverty line: 23.8% of residents.
Auxerre: 15% of households are headed by a manual worker, above 54% 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
32% of households are headed by a retired person, or about one in three. Nothing unusual on households headed by a manager or professional: 8.9%, close to the figure in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants: 13%, a higher share than 81% 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.
In Auxerre, one in ten residents are foreign nationals, beside 4.3% in the typical compared French town. The benchmark for immigrants in the typical compared French town: 6.5%.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A lower share of married residents than 96% of compared French towns, at 32%
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
The share of single residents is 36%, against 25% in the typical compared French town. In the typical compared French town, 43% of residents 15 and over are married.
In Auxerre, 25% of adults out of school have no qualification, more than in 79% 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
In the typical compared French town, 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification; in Auxerre, 28%. Adults with no qualification make up 19% in the typical compared French town.
Of 41 French towns its size (32,910 to 37,491 people), the 8th 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.
Ages run from 31.8 in Creil to 58.9 in Saint-Raphaël.
Auxerre is younger than every town around it
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
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 Auxerre
What is the population of Auxerre?
35,097 at INSEE’s 2023 census, about the same as in 2012 (35,096).
How old are Auxerre’s residents?
The median age is 44.1, older than 50% of compared French towns. 19% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Auxerre?
680, with occasional dwellings: 3.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Auxerre?
INSEE counts 4,630 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 13% of residents, and 3,530 foreign nationals (10%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Auxerre?
€22,700 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 23.8% 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 9, 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.