Households headed by a manager or professional make up 0.5% in Cheny, less than in 99% of compared French towns
Where 12% of households rent social housing (HLM) in the typical compared French town, Cheny has 23%. Single-parent households are more common here than in 83% of compared French towns. The town’s 1,060 households held 2,206 residents at the 2023 Census. Here, one in ten residents are 15 to 24.
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 Cheny
Fewer residents than in 2012
Cheny had 2,417 residents at the 2012 census and 2,206 in 2023, down 9%: slower growth than in 96% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 150 homes empty (12%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
−9% since 2012, a pace below 96% 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 +3%, then −11% to 2023.
A median age of 45.4: Cheny is older than 59% 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
■ Cheny 45.4. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 65 and over at 24%, Cheny is ahead of 61% of compared French towns on that count.
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%.
More one-person households than 71% of compared French towns: 41%
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
By its share of couples with children (23%), Cheny is below 63% of compared French towns. For one-person households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 35%. Each household has 2.1 people on average.
In Cheny, 12% of homes stand empty, more than in 90% 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
Without a car: one household in eight, against 11% in the median compared French town. Set beside that, 6.7% of homes stand empty in the typical compared French town. Put another way, about one in eight: 13% of households have no car. Few places have so few second homes: 1.9% here, fewer than in 53% of compared French towns.
A median standard of living of €23,370 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 €23,370 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 78% of compared French towns. The share living below the poverty line is 18.0%.
A larger share of households headed by a manual worker than 99% of compared French towns: 28%
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
Here 35% of households are headed by a retired person, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 32%. The benchmark for households headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town: 14%.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 8.8% in Cheny, more than in 64% 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.
Foreign nationals account for 4.7%. As a yardstick, 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.
Married residents: 44%, a higher share than 55% of compared French towns
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 Cheny, a quarter of residents 15 and over are single. For married residents, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 43%.
Cheny sits below 98% of compared French towns for graduates of higher education (14%)
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
19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town, against 28% in Cheny. The share of graduates of higher education in the typical compared French town is 30%.
41 French towns of 2,206 to 2,582 people: this is the 21st 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Cheny is younger than 4 of its 6 nearest neighbors
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheny | 45.4 | 24% | 1.9% | 8.8% |
| Migennes 6,688 · 1.3 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 1.8% | 17% |
| Brienon-sur-Armançon 3,032 · 4.8 mi | 47 | 25% | 7.3% | 6.1% |
| Appoigny 3,114 · 5.5 mi | 50.2 | 28% | 2.7% | 6.2% |
| Joigny 9,016 · 6.3 mi | 43.4 | 25% | 4.8% | 21% |
| Monéteau 4,114 · 7.5 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 2% | 6.2% |
| Saint-Florentin 4,164 · 9.5 mi | 47.7 | 28% | 3.5% | 18% |
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 Cheny
What is the population of Cheny?
2,206 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 9% fewer than in 2012 (2,417).
How old are Cheny’s residents?
The median age is 45.4, older than 59% of compared French towns. 22% are under 18 and 24% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Cheny?
24, with occasional dwellings: 1.9% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Cheny?
INSEE counts 190 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 8.8% of residents, and 100 foreign nationals (4.7%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Cheny?
€23,370 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970); 18.0% 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.