3.1% of homes are flats, below 98% of compared French towns
31% of households are headed by a manual worker, against 14% in the typical compared French town. The 2023 Census counted 533 residents in 250 households. On the census count, 5.9% of households have no car. The median age in Chailley is 47.3, higher than in 71% 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 Chailley
One home in six is a second home
The census counted 55 second homes and occasional dwellings in Chailley, 15% of its 360 homes: higher than in 91% of compared French towns. 100% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
Empty homes
The census found 48 homes empty (14%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Chailley had 559 residents at the 2012 census and 533 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.
Second homes make up 15% in Chailley, more than in 91% 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
Empty homes: 14%, above 93% of compared French towns. Measured more widely, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. 6.7% of households rent social housing (HLM).
Slower growth than 87% of compared French towns: Chailley changed by −5% since 2012
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
In two steps, −3% to 2017 and −1% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and −4% in Yonne.
Chailley: 24% of residents are 65 or over, above 61% 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
■ Chailley 47.3. The median compared French town: 44.
Across Chailley, 10% of residents are 15 to 24. The usual figure: 22% of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Single-parent households: 7.7%, a lower share than 84% 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 share of one-person households tops 58% of compared French towns: 37%. Couples with children make up about one in four here (23%). As a yardstick, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town.
Median standard of living: €24,410 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.
Half of Chailley’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €24,410 a year per consumption unit, and half above: lower than in 67% of compared French towns.
A smaller share of households headed by a retired person than 59% of compared French towns: 31%
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
One in ten households are headed by a manager or professional, or about one in ten. Households headed by a retired person: 32% 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).
Foreign nationals: 6.5%, a higher share than 67% 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 Chailley, 7.6% of residents are immigrants, beside 6.5% in the typical compared French town. That is higher than in 58% of compared French towns; the median compared commune in Yonne has 9.2%. By way of comparison, 4.3% of residents are foreign nationals 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.
Fewer single residents than 56% of compared French towns: 25%
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
Fewer married residents than in 52% of compared French towns: 43%.
Graduates of higher education: 17%, a lower share than 94% 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
24% of adults out of school have no qualification (typical compared French town: 19%). The benchmark for graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town: 30%.
15th highest median age among 41 French towns of 533 to 2,582
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).
A younger town than 3 of the 6 around it: Chailley
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chailley | 47.3 | 24% | 15% | 7.6% |
| Saint-Florentin 4,164 · 5.8 mi | 47.7 | 28% | 3.5% | 18% |
| Brienon-sur-Armançon 3,032 · 7.2 mi | 47 | 25% | 7.3% | 6.1% |
| Aix-Villemaur-Pâlis 3,236 · 10.4 mi | 51.4 | 31% | 9.7% | 2.8% |
| Migennes 6,688 · 11.6 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 1.8% | 17% |
| Joigny 9,016 · 15.2 mi | 43.4 | 25% | 4.8% | 21% |
| Appoigny 3,114 · 16.6 mi | 50.2 | 28% | 2.7% | 6.2% |
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 Chailley
What is the population of Chailley?
533 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 5% fewer than in 2012 (559).
How old are Chailley’s residents?
The median age is 47.3, older than 71% of compared French towns. 20% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Chailley?
55, with occasional dwellings: 15% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Chailley?
INSEE counts 40 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 7.6% of residents, and 35 foreign nationals (6.5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Chailley?
€24,410 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.