Only 1.2% of homes are flats in Merry-la-Vallée
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 7.9%, Merry-la-Vallée is behind 93% of compared French towns on that count. Census day 2023: 358 residents and 180 households locally. Across Merry-la-Vallée, 2.7% of households are single parents. At 6.3%, the share of households without a car is lower than in 78% 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 Merry-la-Vallée
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 56 second homes and occasional dwellings in Merry-la-Vallée, 21% of its 260 homes: higher than in 93% 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
Merry-la-Vallée had 401 residents at the 2012 census and 358 in 2023, down 11%: slower growth than in 98% of compared French towns. Population ↓
An older town
Half of Merry-la-Vallée’s residents are under 52.2 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 28% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 11% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
Merry-la-Vallée ranks above 93% of compared French towns on second homes: 21%
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
27% of households have been in place 30 years or more; 5% moved in within the last two years. Fewer households in social housing than in 96% of compared French towns: 2.2%. To put it in context, 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Here 11% of homes stand empty, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 6.7%.
−11% since 2012: slower than 98% 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
Against +5% for the median compared French town and −4% for the median Yonne town, the change came in two steps: −6% from 2012 to 2017, then −5% to 2023.
Half of Merry-la-Vallée is over 52.2, older than 89% 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
■ Merry-la-Vallée 52.2. The median compared French town: 44.
Here 28% of residents are 65 or over, where the figure in the typical compared French town is 22%.
Women and men · all residents
47% women, 53% men
About 113 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Yonne 52.2%, France 51.8%.
Merry-la-Vallée: 37% of households are one person living alone, above 57% 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
Each household has 2 people on average. As a yardstick, just over a third of households are one person living alone in the typical compared French town. Couples with children make up 24%, against 25% in the typical compared French town.
At the median, €25,550 a year to live on
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 €25,550 a year per consumption unit, lower than in 54% of compared French towns.
25% of households are headed by a retired person, fewer than in 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
In the typical compared French town, nearly one in ten households are headed by a manager or professional; in Merry-la-Vallée, 11%. As a yardstick, nearly a third of households are headed by a retired person in the typical compared French town. Across Merry-la-Vallée, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 1.7% in Merry-la-Vallée, less than in 95% 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.
The median compared commune in Yonne has 9.2%; immigrants here make up a share lower than in 95% of compared French towns. Elsewhere, 6.5% of residents are immigrants in the typical compared French town. Locally, 0.6% 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.
Merry-la-Vallée: 49% of residents 15 and over are married, above 89% 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
Single residents: 21% here and 25% in the typical compared French town. By way of comparison, 43% of residents 15 and over are married in the typical compared French town.
Merry-la-Vallée ranks below 78% of compared French towns on adults with no qualification: 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
Where 30% of adults out of school hold a higher-education qualification in the typical compared French town, Merry-la-Vallée has 24%. For comparison, 19% of adults out of school have no qualification in the typical compared French town.
41 French towns of 358 to 2,582 people: this is the 9th 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.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
Among its 6 nearest neighbors, 3 are older than Merry-la-Vallée
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merry-la-Vallée | 52.2 | 28% | 21% | 1.7% |
| Toucy 2,571 · 4.4 mi | 52.2 | 32% | 4.2% | 4.3% |
| Montholon 2,709 · 6.8 mi | 51.9 | 31% | 7.9% | 3.7% |
| Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche 3,151 · 9.3 mi | 56.9 | 38% | 1.5% | 6.3% |
| Appoigny 3,114 · 10.5 mi | 50.2 | 28% | 2.7% | 6.2% |
| Auxerre 35,097 · 11.1 mi | 44.1 | 24% | 3.1% | 13% |
| Charny Orée de Puisaye 4,900 · 11.8 mi | 56 | 35% | 23% | 3.3% |
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 Merry-la-Vallée
What is the population of Merry-la-Vallée?
358 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 11% fewer than in 2012 (401).
How old are Merry-la-Vallée’s residents?
The median age is 52.2, older than 89% of compared French towns. 16% are under 18 and 28% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Merry-la-Vallée?
56, with occasional dwellings: 21% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Merry-la-Vallée?
INSEE counts 6 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.7% of residents, and 2 foreign nationals (0.6%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Merry-la-Vallée?
€25,550 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 9, 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.