Empty homes: 16%, a higher share than 97% of compared French towns
Here just over a fifth of households are headed by a manual worker, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 14%. With a median age of 49.7, Ligny-le-Châtel is older than just over four fifths of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 1,200 residents here, living in 540 households. Roughly one in ten: 11% of homes are flats.
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 Ligny-le-Châtel
Fewer residents than in 2012
Ligny-le-Châtel had 1,340 residents at the 2012 census and 1,200 in 2023, down 10%: slower growth than in 97% of compared French towns. Population ↓
Empty homes
The census found 110 homes empty (16%): for sale, to let, awaiting work or simply unused. Homes & cars ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Ligny-le-Châtel changed by −10% from 2012 to 2023, behind 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
Between 2012 and 2017 the population moved −4%, then −6% to 2023.
In Ligny-le-Châtel, 7.6% of residents are 15 to 24, fewer than in 95% 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
■ Ligny-le-Châtel 49.7. The median compared French town: 44.
Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over in the typical compared French town, against 27% in Ligny-le-Châtel. For comparison, 11% of residents are 15 to 24 in the typical compared French town.
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
A lower share of single-parent households than 73% of compared French towns, at 8.6%
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 2.1 people. At 24%, the share of couples with children is lower than in 56% of compared French towns. On average, one in ten households are single parents in the typical compared French town. One-person households are about as common here as in the typical compared French town, at 35%.
In Ligny-le-Châtel, 4.4% of households rent social housing (HLM), fewer than in 89% 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
Where 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town, Ligny-le-Châtel has 5.1%. Households in social housing make up 12% in the typical compared French town. 9% of households have no car, or about one in 11.
Half above, half below €26,020 a year in 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.
Half of Ligny-le-Châtel’s residents live in households with a standard of living below €26,020 a year per consumption unit, and half above: higher than in 51% of compared French towns.
Below 88% of compared French towns: 4.7% of households are headed by a manager or professional
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
The share of households headed by a retired person tops 61% of compared French towns: 35%. Against that, 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).
Ligny-le-Châtel: 6.5% 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 half of compared French towns. Across Ligny-le-Châtel, 5% 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.
In Ligny-le-Châtel, 20% of residents 15 and over are single, fewer than in 90% 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
Married residents account for 42%. In the typical compared French town, the share of single residents is 25%.
Ligny-le-Châtel sits above 97% of compared French towns for adults with no qualification (34%)
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
Set against 30% in the typical compared French town, a fifth of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in Ligny-le-Châtel. Adults with no qualification: 19% in the typical compared French town, for comparison.
41 French towns of 1,200 to 2,582 people: this is 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.
Villejust is the youngest (37.2); Prayssac the oldest (62.3).
Around Ligny-le-Châtel, 2 of 6 towns have a higher median age
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ligny-le-Châtel | 49.7 | 27% | 5.1% | 6.5% |
| Saint-Florentin 4,164 · 6.9 mi | 47.7 | 28% | 3.5% | 18% |
| Brienon-sur-Armançon 3,032 · 8.9 mi | 47 | 25% | 7.3% | 6.1% |
| Monéteau 4,114 · 8.9 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 2% | 6.2% |
| Appoigny 3,114 · 10.7 mi | 50.2 | 28% | 2.7% | 6.2% |
| Tonnerre 4,261 · 10.9 mi | 47.3 | 29% | 3.8% | 14% |
| Auxerre 35,097 · 11.3 mi | 44.1 | 24% | 3.1% | 13% |
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 Ligny-le-Châtel
What is the population of Ligny-le-Châtel?
1,200 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 10% fewer than in 2012 (1,340).
How old are Ligny-le-Châtel’s residents?
The median age is 49.7, older than 82% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 27% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Ligny-le-Châtel?
35, with occasional dwellings: 5.1% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Ligny-le-Châtel?
INSEE counts 78 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 6.5% of residents, and 60 foreign nationals (5%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Ligny-le-Châtel?
€26,020 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.