In Avallon, 13% of households are couples with children, fewer than in 96% of compared French towns
With a median age of 50.5, Avallon is older than 85% of compared French towns. In Avallon, 38% of households are headed by a retired person. At the 2023 Census, 6,305 people lived here, in 3,380 households. 30% of homes are flats in the typical compared French town, against 57% here.
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 Avallon
Fewer residents than in 2012
Avallon had 7,210 residents at the 2012 census and 6,305 in 2023, down 13%: slower growth than in 99% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Many people living alone
52% of Avallon’s households are one person: higher than in 96% of compared French towns; 37% of residents 65 and over live alone. Households ↓
Empty homes
The census found 710 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Social housing
28% of households rent from a social landlord (HLM), 30% rent privately and 39% own their home. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
From 2012 to 2023, 99% of compared French towns grew faster than Avallon: −13%
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 −4% from 2017 to 2023.
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 84% of compared French towns: 30%
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Avallon 50.5. The median compared French town: 44.
Residents aged 15 to 24 are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 11%. By way of comparison, 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
One-person households make up 52% in Avallon, more than in 96% 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
Households average 1.8 people. Set beside that, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Single-parent households are more common here than in 53% of compared French towns.
Empty homes make up 16% in Avallon, more than in 97% of compared French towns
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
Households in social housing: 28% here and 12% in the typical compared French town. Typically, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. On the census count, 26% of households have no car. 5.6% of homes are second homes, more than in 79% of compared French towns.
€21,800 a year: the median standard of living
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 Avallon is €21,800 a year per consumption unit: lower than in 90% of compared French towns. Some 25.0% of residents fall below the poverty line.
In Avallon, 5.5% of households are headed by a manager or professional, fewer than in 81% 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
Households headed by a manual worker make up 17%, against 14% in the typical compared French town. Elsewhere, nearly one in ten 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).
Avallon: 12% of residents are immigrants, above 77% 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.
Against a figure of 4.3% in the typical compared French town, the share of foreign nationals in Avallon comes in at 8.7%. The median compared commune in Yonne has 9.2%; immigrants here make up a share higher than in 77% of compared French towns. To put it in context, 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.
33% of residents 15 and over are single, a share 88% of compared French towns don’t reach
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
In Avallon, 37% of residents 15 and over are married, beside 43% in the typical compared French town. For single residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 25%.
Avallon ranks above 89% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 29%
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
22% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification, against 30% in the typical compared French town. The share of adults with no qualification in the typical compared French town is 19%.
The 3rd oldest of 41 French towns of 6,236 to 6,374 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 33.9 in Pont-de-Chéruy to 54.3 in Fleurance.
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 Avallon
What is the population of Avallon?
6,305 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 13% fewer than in 2012 (7,210).
How old are Avallon’s residents?
The median age is 50.5, older than 85% of compared French towns. 17% are under 18 and 30% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Avallon?
240, with occasional dwellings: 5.6% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Avallon?
INSEE counts 730 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 12% of residents, and 550 foreign nationals (8.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Avallon?
€21,800 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 25.0% 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 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.