Below 99% of compared French towns: 2.5% of homes are flats
Here 53% of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. The 2023 Census put Cheney’s population at 235, in 94 households. 4.3% of households have no car. With a median age of 49.6, Cheney is older than just over four fifths 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 Cheney
One home in nine is a second home
The census counted 13 second homes and occasional dwellings in Cheney, 11% of its 120 homes: higher than in 88% 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 ↓
Fewer residents than in 2012
Cheney had 262 residents at the 2012 census and 235 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 88% of compared French towns: 11%
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, just over one in ten homes stand empty here. Households that moved in under two years ago: 7.4%. Those in their home 30 years or more: 20%. The wider picture: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town.
Cheney’s population moved −10% on 2012, less than in 97% 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
Over those years, the median Yonne town changed −4% and the median compared French town +5%. Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −11%, then +1% to 2023.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 12% in Cheney, more than in 80% 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
■ Cheney 49.6. The median compared French town: 44.
Where just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, Cheney has 21%. In the typical compared French town, 11% of residents are 15 to 24.
Women and men · all residents
46% women, 54% men
About 117 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Cheney ranks below 98% of compared French towns on single-parent households: 5.3%
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
There are 2.2 people in the average household. Set beside that, 10% of households are single parents in the typical compared French town. Just over a quarter of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 91% of compared French towns.
A median standard of living of €27,360 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.
Living standards centre on €27,360 a year per consumption unit: higher than in 65% of compared French towns.
5.3% of households are headed by a manager or professional, below 83% 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
Where 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town, Cheney has 16%. Across the comparison, 9.4% of 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).
Below 90% of compared French towns: 2.1% of residents are immigrants
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.
The median compared commune in Yonne has 9.2%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 90% of compared French towns. The wider picture: 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Across Cheney, 1.7% of residents are foreign nationals.
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 single residents than 84% of compared French towns: 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
Here just over two in five residents 15 and over are married, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 43%. Single residents: 25% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
A lower share of graduates of higher education than 93% of compared French towns, at 17%
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, nearly a fifth of adults out of school have no qualification; in Cheney, 30%.
Of 41 French towns its size (235 to 2,582 people), the 14th 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.
The youngest is Villejust (37.2), the oldest Prayssac (62.3).
1 of 4 neighbors are older than Cheney
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheney | 49.6 | 21% | 11% | 2.1% |
| Tonnerre 4,261 · 3.5 mi | 47.3 | 29% | 3.8% | 14% |
| Saint-Florentin 4,164 · 12.3 mi | 47.7 | 28% | 3.5% | 18% |
| Brienon-sur-Armançon 3,032 · 16.6 mi | 47 | 25% | 7.3% | 6.1% |
| Monéteau 4,114 · 17.6 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 2% | 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 Cheney
What is the population of Cheney?
235 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (262).
How old are Cheney’s residents?
The median age is 49.6, older than 82% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 21% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cheney?
13, with occasional dwellings: 11% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cheney?
INSEE counts 5 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 2.1% of residents, and 4 foreign nationals (1.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cheney?
€27,360 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 October 30, 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.